Light Embracing Darkness
by The Countess D
Summary: There can't be a beginning without an ending; no journey without a destination. After the pack finds another stray buried within the snow, will their journey be the same? Kiba/OC; Tsume/OC.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** The fic you're about to read is far from the first fanfic I've ever posted. However, it is a _remake_ of the first I've ever written. Sometime during my sophomore year in high school, I rediscovered it on the Internet, reread it, realized what a horrible piece of writing it really was, and deleted it out of embarrassment.

That being said, I doubt that there will be many people on this site that are aware of the original, or even aware of a site called MediaMiner, where it was posted in the first place. So let me tell my new readers now that the story that follows was originally conceived as a way to fulfill this author's (and her friend's) wishes for the cast of Wolf's Rain. It was fun, thoughtless, and despite how badly written it was, it ended up holding some very fond memories for me. That being said, I undertook this revamp as a way to do the_ original series_ justice by having the fic be well-written and well-thought out as possible, even with the addition of two original characters into the mix. I understand that stories written under such a premise usually have the expectation of being the exact opposite. Hopefully, my fic will manage to break that mold.

Please read, review, and if you find any problems, please be kind. Thank you.

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><p><strong>Light Embracing Darkness: Chapter One<strong>

_The Countess D_

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><p>The world was absolutely, completely blank.<p>

How long had she been traveling? Minutes? Hours? Maybe even days? Either way, this storm had refused to let up and she had been left trudging through the deep snow. The world was colorless, lifeless.

Lonely.

Hopeless.

Her legs crumpled beneath her, the cold biting sharply at her belly as it made contact with the snow. It would be easy, so easy to stay there, to close her eyes and rest, and hope that she'd be able to open them again in the morning. But despite her exhaustion, despite how futile continuing on would be, she forced herself to stand once more. She walked.

Instinct was all that had brought her here, in this direction, on this day. Instinct had led her to her death and made sure she was alone to greet it. And yet, for all that it had done for her, alone in a snowstorm, instinct was all she had, begging her, pressing her to loose the cry for help that was bubbling up in her throat.

She opened her jaws wide, giving into temptation for a moment before she shook her head, stalling the action every nerve of her body was urging her to do.

Humans would hear. It would only be a waste of breath; a call for the end to reach her quicker than it would have done before.

There wouldn't, couldn't be any of her kind to help her nearby. It was useless either way.

There were so many reasons to ignore what instinct was telling her to do. So many reasons to accept her fate and die there. But against all logic, against all reason, it stuck in her throat; that beastly call.

Growling at herself in disgust, she lifted her maw to the skies and let out a long, resonating howl.

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><p>"What was that?" Tsume's ears turned towards the mouth of the cave, as did his companions'. They'd all heard it in the distance, a sound barely muffled by the storm. It was unmistakable, and Tsume's question had been asked more in shock than with the expectation of an answer. For a long while, all the wolves in the cave were silent.<p>

It was Hige who spoke first, getting up from his position on the cave floor. Toboe followed him, both of them bounding towards the entrance. "Aw man! Hey, hey, Kiba! There's someone out there!" Hige turned to look at the silent mass of white fur that still lay on the cave floor not too far away.

Without moving an inch, Kiba's eyes looked to Hige and Toboe in all their excitement before turning back to the mouth of the cave. Toboe walked a little closer to him, "We're going out to find them, aren't we, Kiba?"

Kiba seemed to think before answering, his eyes still searching for any more signs of life within the flurries of snow outside. Finally, he said softly, "Go back to sleep."

"What?" Hige blanched. "There's a wolf out there calling for help and you're not even going to _try_?"

"The storm's still too strong." Kiba said, his voice detached and methodical. "There's already one wolf lost in that storm, we don't need four more. We'll take some time to search when the storm's died down."

Toboe let out a cry of despair, "But by then it will be too late!"

"…There's nothing more we can do." Kiba replied, resting his head back onto his paws before saying gently, "Go back to sleep."

The pup stared at the wolf, his eyes pleading. But Kiba, having been in positions such as this one before, had already closed his eyes and was determined to keep it that way. Hige eventually led Toboe back to the back of the cave, if not grudgingly. It didn't take long for them to fall asleep.

Tsume sat across the cave from Kiba, looking out into the storm. "You know, they might be of use to us."

Kiba opened one eye to look at him, "It's still too big of a risk to take. Would you want Hige and Toboe out in a storm like that?"

"Is that the only thing keeping you from going out there?" Tsume smirked slightly, positioning himself to face the white wolf. Kiba sighed and shifted to face him as well. Obviously only half of the pack was going to get any sleep tonight. "I can understand Toboe. Hige, maybe, but he can handle himself pretty well… when he wants."

"Well in this situation, I think he might get a little overexcited." Kiba replied.

Tsume raised an eyebrow, looking over at him. "_This_ situation?

Another pause came from Kiba. He started slowly, "I'm surprised Hige didn't notice. But… judging from the sound of that wolf's voice..." Kiba glanced back towards the husky wolf, "I'm pretty sure that the lost wolf is a female."

There was a beat before a loud barking laugh echoed through the cave. Kiba snapped his jaws and growled at Tsume at the sound, glancing back at the sleeping wolves at the back of the cave to make sure they hadn't stirred. Tsume chuckled for a few more moments before looking at him, "Damn, Kiba…" He laughed again, "You know we need one of those."

Kiba shot him a glare before laying his head back on his paws. "If she got this far, she'll have more than enough strength to last until morning."

"And if the storm doesn't die down by morning?" When Kiba didn't answer Tsume chuckled and waltzed over, speaking lowly into his ear. "Just know that you're leaving one of our own kind, a _female_ nonetheless, to die out there in the bitter cold. And when we pass her carcass once the storm finally passes, you can be proud to say that it was all because of you."

All Kiba did was close his eyes and listen as Tsume went back to his spot across the cave. He listened for who knows how long, waiting. He could hear the fierce whistle of the wind outside of the cave, the swish of fur against stone whenever one of his companions moved, and eventually, the sound of even breathing as they all were immersed in a deep sleep.

He didn't know how long he listened, if he had even slept at all, but suddenly there was another call. A howl that was much fainter, more desperate than the last. This time Kiba slowly opened his eyes, lifting his head to look outside. Whoever this wolf was, she was either getting weaker or moving further away.

Not even five minutes passed before she tried again. By this point, Kiba shook his head and turned to Tsume's sleeping form, growling at it before trekking out into the snow.

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><p>Atra whimpered softly as realization slowly seeped in. No one would answer her calls, and no one would save her. How many minutes had it been since her last howl? Too long, Atra decided. She could almost hear a reply now, a delicious baritone note that echoed in the air. Of course, that couldn't possibly be real. It was too beautiful, too surreal that someone was finally coming to rescue her.<p>

Weak. That's what she was. Worthless. And as she entertained those thoughts in her mind, her steps became as worthless as the wolf taking them. She looked up and whimpered again, only seeing white, white, and more white. She blinked, thinking she had seen a fleck of amber, but of course, that was impossible.

She let herself fall into the snow, burrowed in it until the cold ice pressed on her at all sides. What was killing her was becoming her sanctuary, a tool to avoid the pain, a way to numb herself to the cold.

As she drifted out of consciousness, she smiled. It was working.

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><p>Kiba growled in frustration. She hadn't answered! She had brought him out here, and for all he knew she could be dead by now. The silence was certainly ominous enough to make it seem that way.<p>

He pushed himself harder, trying to sort out the tools he had at his disposal to find this wolf. His sense of sight was rendered useless by the blizzard and all using his sense of smell accomplished was burning his nose with snow. All he could rely on was her last howl, and if he didn't get it right, it was almost certain that they both wouldn't make it.

Finally, as he neared what he thought was the source of the sound, he saw it. Something dark hidden by the flurry of the storm. Hurrying towards it, he found just what he thought he would. A female already half buried within the snow.

He brushed the snow off her coat, pressing his nose to her neck to feel her faint but present pulse. He began to nudge her, tried to stir her but to no avail.

Kiba let out a soft sound of anxiety before rubbing his fur against hers, eventually reviving her enough for her to open her eyes. They stared each other for a few moments, Kiba looking into her brown eyes, and the stranger looking into his. It didn't last very long before she dropped off once more, weak and worn out.

With that simple sign of life, Kiba hoisted her onto his back and began to head back towards the cave.

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><p>"Lay down around her. She needs to be warmed up."<p>

"What's going on? Oh!"

"…Aw damn it; you just had to hog all the glory, didn't you?"

Atra's brows furrowed, remembering the feel of warmth slowly surrounding her body… Where was she?

"So was she as strong as you thought she would be, Kiba?"

Whoever this Kiba person was, all he did in response was growl. If Atra wasn't practically dead, she'd probably find this amusing. She tried to open her eyes.

Three wolves, no, four, were circling around her. The first who lay beside her was dark reddish-brown, and was much younger than the others, barely more than a pup. The next who positioned himself at her side was butterscotch gold, the biggest, oldest, and as Atra discovered, the warmest. She moved closer to him, shuddering as another breeze swept through the cave. He snuggled against her in turn, apparently happy to offer his services.

Finally, the last two. A wolf with gray colored fur, though a lighter gray than her's, observed her, his gaze more critical than concerned. In the end, he didn't move from his spot at the wall of the cave. Then there was the white wolf. Atra turned her eyes wearily towards him.

He was stunning, and could barely be seen against the entrance with all that snow. Strong. He had the sense of a leader about him, even if he seemed to be the second youngest of all the four. Suddenly she realized he was staring back and automatically lowered her eyes.

A few moments passed, and he slowly stepped closer to her. Atra looked back up towards him and a jolt of recognition was sent through her. "You're…"

Before she could say anymore, he interrupted, "How do you feel?"

"…Better… Much better." She replied, unable to think of anything else.

The butterscotch wolf laughed against her, and Atra turned to face him, surprised at the jolly sound. "Well, I bet! Well, for starters, my name is Hige. That pup warming you up on the other side is named Toboe. That stiff in the corner's Tsume, and this here's Kiba." Hige jerked his head to the white wolf. "I believe he's the one who saved your ass out there."

The pup, Toboe, barked in a feeble attempt to reprimand him. "Hige!" After glaring at him for a couple of moments, he looked back towards Atra. "Are you sure you're alright?"

Atra paused before smiling and nodding slowly, turning to Kiba before saying quietly. "Thank you." She turned to look at the rest of the wolves in the cave, "All of you."

Hige nodded, "Hey, no problem! And… out of curiosity, what's your name?"

"…Atra." She replied slowly, even the sound of her name already foreign on her tongue.

Suddenly, a voice came from the gray wolf in the corner, Tsume. "You smell like a human."

Atra hesitated before saying quietly, "And you smell like a dog. I suppose we're even."

She watched his fur bristle. There was a low rumble as he growled at her across the cave, his eyes narrowing in a dangerous glare. But all Atra did was smile. After a moment, she turned back to Kiba. "I'll stay until the storm lets up… We'll part ways then."

Hige let out a groan of disappointment, "Don't tell me you're going to leave just like that! We wolves need to stick together!"

Before she could reply, Kiba added, "He's right. Before we start talking about you going out on your own again, you need to get your strength back…" He leaned down and nudged her gently, his tone gentle. "Sleep, Atra."

She didn't say anything in return, and didn't need to. As soon as Kiba said her name she felt an end to the whole conversation settle into the cave. Yawning quietly, she rested her head on her paws and watched as the white wolf walked back to his station at the the cave's entrance. Then, silently, she allowed herself to succumb to exhaustion and fell asleep.

* * *

><p>Tsume watched the form of the new wolf, frowning as he did. Turning his gaze to Kiba, he spoke. "Wake her up."<p>

"She's tired." He replied calmly, his eyes staring out into the now clear frontier of snow.

Tsume growled slightly, "At this point I'm thinking you should've just left her out there."

Kiba replied, using his same nonchalant tone. "Just because you got a whiff of human in her fur? You were the one who wanted me to go find her in the first place, and as far as I see it, she's still not ready to leave. Let it be."

Tsume made a sound of disgust, "You all get too soft around females for your own good."

Kiba sent him a glare before a loud yawn sounded further into the cave. They turned to look at Hige as he stretched and shook himself awake. Before he got up, he looked down to see Atra snuggled up against him, still sleeping soundly. "Hey… I think she likes me." He winked.

"If I was as cold as she was last night, I'd like you too." Tsume rolled his eyes. "And that's saying something." He paused before looking down at Toboe and Atra. "…At least wake up the kid."

Suddenly, a soft, weary voice spoke. "Let him sleep." Atra opened her eyes slowly for a few moments before closing them again. "I'll get up."

Tsume paused and rose his voice slightly, "Yeah? Well you don't seem likely to follow up on that any time soon."

"I've been awake since you started whining about it." She opened one eye once more, smiling slyly. When Tsume didn't say anything she slowly sat up, shaking her head and looking at Toboe. "Just let him sleep."

Kiba watched her for a few moments before saying simply, "Now that you're awake, I don't see the point. He's used to the way we move, and he should have been awake by now anyway."

"But he's just a pup." Atra looked at him quizzically, but before she could say anymore Hige was leaning over her and barking into Toboe's ear.

Toboe let out a loud yelp and got up in shock, looking around, panting. Tsume smirked, "What took you so long, kid?"

The pup looked at him, as if still registering his surroundings before saying slowly. "I had a dream we reached Paradise."

Atra looked at the pup, a hint of surprise in her expression before she realized the others around her had gone silent. Finally, Kiba smiled. "…Tell us about it while we're moving, Toboe."

With that, they were off.

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><p>"It was so amazing! There were all these red and blue flowers blooming as far as the eye could see! And guess what, they were all lunar flowers!"<p>

"Have you ever seen lunar flowers before?" Hige replied skeptically.

Toboe hesitated, "…Well, no, not really." Then suddenly he launched back into his innocent enthusiasm. "But granny was there too and she took care of us and she cooked for us and made us all kinds of delicious food!"

"What are you talking about?" Hige said, his words edged with annoyance. Atra assumed the annoyance came from the inclusion of 'granny' in this fantasy more than anything.

Confirming Atra's suspicions, Tsume added snidely, "I guess he'll be happy being somebody's pet even in Paradise."

Atra looked at him but remained silent, sitting off to the side of the group.

"It's not what you're thinking! It was like a party and we were all treated as guests, and there was great music playing and everything!" Toboe said, pushing on, trying to convince them of his vision of Paradise.

Hige closed his eyes and turned away, "It sounds like a city coffee shop to me."

"But it's true, Hige! It was so amazing! It made me think it was really Paradise!" There his enthusiasm stopped, a part of him suddenly realizing that he wouldn't convince them of the merit of his vision of Paradise for the world. "It's kind of… hard to describe."

"Well, with a brain like yours, what do you expect?" Hige snipped.

"Give me a break!" The pup said indignantly, "Not even Kiba's told me what Paradise is really like so how am I supposed to know?" Defeated, he frowned and looked to Kiba, "What color are lunar flowers anyway, can you tell me that?"

Kiba smiled.

Atra took that moment to waltz towards the group, glancing kindly towards Toboe before saying, "I think this is where we part ways."

All eyes turned to her, Toboe's eyes in particular widening. "But why?"

She looked at him and laughed, "Well… Listening to the lot of you just now, our goals are very… very different." She looked towards the landscape in front of them, "The place I'm looking for is anything but Paradise."

Kiba examined the she-wolf in silence, his features shifting into a thoughtful expression. Hige spoke beside him. "But you can't go! There aren't any other wolves out there; and you traveling all alone? It just can't be safe!"

Atra grinned impishly, "You'd be surprised… Either way, I thank you for all you've done for me. And who knows, maybe we'll meet again." She began to move away from the pack before hesitating, turning to them one last time before setting off. "Maybe sooner than you think."

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><p>Following what they thought was the smell of lunar flowers, the wolves crossed a bridge to find the rancid ruins of a human city instead of the Paradise they sought. Kiba studied the wreckage as they walked through the streets, his chest becoming tight as he realized there truly wasn't, <em>couldn't<em> be anything to find here. His friends spoke around him, disappointed as he was. Suddenly, something caught his eye.

Hige was the first to speak, to announce what they already knew, "It's a woman."

Before they could see anymore of this she-wolf, her mate stood and stared them down, a scar etched into his left cheek. "Where are you boys from?"

"A city to the north." Kiba replied, a slight edge to his voice.

"Why are you here?"

Tsume cut in this time, "Just passing through. You don't expect us to do business here, in a dump like this?"

The wolf, the alpha of the pack as it seemed, didn't take his eyes off of Kiba. "…Well then, where are you going?"

"Where are we going?" Hige raised an eyebrow, looking to Kiba as if wanting to know the answer.

But before Kiba or any of the wolves could reply, Toboe spoke up. "To Paradise!" His honest reply seemed to be the biggest mistake they had made on the journey so far. As the strangers burst out laughing, Toboe looked to Kiba in confusion, "Kiba, why are they laughing?"

"Because obviously they don't know anything about Paradise."

The laughter came to an abrupt halt. One wolf spoke with a sneer, "We know everything about it."

A member of the pack cut in, "It's nothing but a stupid legend."

"Legend?" Toboe echoed.

The wolf replied easily, "That's right, kid, there's no such thing as Paradise."

"What makes you say that?" Kiba asked, his voice dangerously calm.

"Maybe because we've been there; we've all seen it." Soft gasps came from the young wolves, and the stranger continued, ignoring their awe. "And I'm telling ya', it's not Paradise. That place is more like hell."

Tsume paused before scoffing under his breath, "Well that's no surprise." Meanwhile Kiba stared at them, skeptical and confused.

"You'll all find out soon enough. You'll see that Paradise isn't worth looking for." The alpha spoke again, "Now get lost. You all have somewhere you belong, don't you?"

Kiba just kept on staring. Even as Toboe tugged at his arm, urged him to leave with them, the white wolf couldn't help but imagine showing this whole pack just how wrong they were. Finally he relented, letting Toboe guide him away.

Minutes later, Tsume started to growl. "What a damn joke. A bunch of down and out losers just gave me the brush off."

Hige rolled his eyes behind him, "Yeah right, you're not exactly one to talk you know."

Tsume's growl deepened dangerously as he turned to look at the husky wolf, "What'd you say?"

Hige put his hands in front of them, chuckling nervously. "It's just… in a couple of years; we could be just like those guys!"

Toboe, meanwhile, stared at the ground. "This city is scary. Doesn't feel right… There may be a lot of wolves that live around here, but this place is really cold."

"Well maybe they're right." Tsume replied, "The sooner we get out of here, the better off we'll be."

Finally, Kiba spoke up. His voice full of authority, cold as it had been talking to those wolves not even a half hour ago. "And where do you think we should go exactly?" All eyes turned to him. "There has to be something here. Look how many wolves are in this city. I think we should stay and find out."

Silently, the others agreed. Without any more words between them, they continued down the city streets.

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><p>Atra sighed as she walked throughout the city, the sun already setting on the horizon. Examining the shabby buildings around her and breathing in the polluted air, she couldn't help but gag at the thought of this being her new (though hopefully <em>very<em> temporary) home.

Before she could do such a thing, an unfamiliar voice greeted her. "You're a new face around these parts, aren't you?"

A woman stood in front of her, beautiful as both a wolf and a human. Donning winter clothes and purple hair that fell to her shoulders, she smiled kindly towards her. "You seem a little familiar."

"I'm looking for someone… My sister. Kuri." Atra looked at her, keeping her voice casual.

The woman seemed to think for a few moments before letting out a soft "ah" of recognition. "Kuri! I see…" She stopped and looked away, "I'd bring you to see her, but she's undergoing training right now. I'm sorry." She turned to walk away, and Atra saw her chances of escaping with her sister slipping away.

"If it helps!" Atra exclaimed quickly, hesitating as the she-wolf looked at her. "I'm… also looking for a place to stay."

Slowly, a small touch of sadness touched the woman's smile. She bowed her head, turning that sad smile towards the ground. Finally she spoke, "My name is Cole… Welcome aboard."


	2. Chapter 2

**Light Embracing Darkness: Chapter Two**

_The Countess D_

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><p>If the pack Atra had seen earlier were looking for Paradise, she found it ironic that they were very likely heading to this city. The very atmosphere of it all was depressing; the very stench of the air was oppressive. There had been something during her journey here, of course, that had given her a glimmer of hope before she realized just how very far from Paradise her destination was: a faint fragrance carried on the wind. The smell of flowers.<p>

Cole spoke to her gently as she led her to the training grounds, making small talk and asking after her health, age, and life so far. Atra answered just as politely, but felt as if all the talking was more to distract her from the way to the exit rather than being hospitable. When they ran out of things to say, they walked in silence before Cole gave a soft laugh. "It's funny… You're the fifth wolf who's passed through today."

Atra looked up towards her, "Fifth? Do wolves pass through here a lot?"

"No. No one wants to come here. Why would they?" Cole shook her head, "Some boys searching for Paradise. Around your age actually." She stopped and looked at Atra with another smile, "You don't believe in that stuff too, do you?"

"…No." Atra smiled and shook her head, "I don't."

Cole nodded, sighing sadly and continuing to walk forward while Atra registered this new information. How had those boys gotten here so quickly? She frowned in spite of herself, a little irritated at the thought of them making so much progress when they had such lofty dreams to follow. Pushing her annoyance aside, she looked to Cole, deciding to risk asking more about these 'strangers'. "Do you know where they are?"

"The workers?" Cole asked, looking at her.

"The boys." Atra replied. When Cole looked at her, she started to reconsider inquiring after them. Quashing her anxiety, she pressed on, "It's just… I haven't spent much time around wolves my age in a long time. My sister and I must be the only ones who have a common age in this city, besides them. I mean…"

Cole kept on staring, suspicion beginning to creep into her gaze. Atra felt herself beginning to panic.

Finally, she decided to shame herself for the sake of the answers she sought. She blushed and turned her head to the ground, feigning the naiveté expected from any she-wolf her age. "And I mean, if they're around our age… I was thinking… That we better start looking for mates."

The older wolf took a moment to process her act and completely fell for it, laughing in understanding. "Oh gosh, you won't find one in them, sweetheart. Not at their age."

Atra suppressed the urge to agree wholeheartedly, raising her voice to a whine in false protest instead. "You can't mean that!"

"I mean it!" Cole smiled gleefully, happy that she was finally engaging the newcomer in a real conversation. "Those boys are too headstrong. Their heads are always in the clouds, and…" Her voice softened, "Trust me. Sometimes they can be much more than you bargained for."

Cole paused before her voice softened considerably, her expression wistful as she directed her eyes to the ground in front of them, "Trust me. Sometimes they can be much more than you bargained for."

Atra studied Cole, not missing how the older wolf seemed to have first-hand experience with such a mate before she let out a dreamy sigh, "Well, you never know. And besides, I just want to meet them." She turned to Cole and said eagerly, "Tonight? Please? They'll be _starving_ by then. We could give them some food! I'm sure Toboe would love that!"

Cole stopped in her tracks and looked at her dumbfounded. "Who?"

"…The boys?" Atra said, acting as if she had no idea why Cole was so confused.

"Oh. I see." Cole smiled just as bright as she had before and laughed, shaking her head. She seemed to mull over the idea for a little while, eventually bringing Atra into a train station at the southernmost part of town. While scaling stairways and walking to hallways, she finally spoke again. "…Well, I guess… You could have one last fling before you start to work, hmm? Just don't expect to tame any of them."

Atra scoffed softly, "Oh trust me, I won't. And Kuri?"

"I don't know, Atra, sneaking just one wolf out at night is already a little sketchy." Cole frowned, opening one last door.

Atra fell silent, looking towards the ground in mock desolation. Finally Cole's resolve broke. The she-wolf sighed deeply in surrender, "Fine. But after all this is over and those wolves are out of town, I expect you to work extra hard. Understand?"

Atra perked up and beamed. "Absolutely."

"Good." Cole looked towards the ground and walked forward before coming to a halt in front of a railing looking over a huge space beneath them. "Then start training."

There, on the train station floor, Atra saw the most appalling thing in her life. Wolves pulled crates filled with metals back and forth over the great expanse of stone strapped into leather. Humans cracked their whips against their flesh, their mouths crying out harsh words. In the midst of all this shockingly new horror, she saw one familiar face. "Kuri!"

Cole stepped in front of Atra, "Wait a few minutes. They'll take a break soon." Atra shot a look of disgust towards her, but regretted it as soon as she noticed the pain in her eyes. It was hurting her as much to see her pack suffer as it was angering Atra.

After minutes of waiting, one of the humans holding the whip put a whistle to his lips and blew, the sharp screech becoming a sound of relief to the wolves around him. It was then Cole moved aside and Atra raced down bounding over crates wolves and harnesses. "Kuri!" She yelled again.

This time, she got a response. "What took you so long?" The dark wolf winded from a day of work leapt at her sister in what seemed like a playful tackle, but what was really an eager embrace. Kuri clutched at her sister. "Do you know what I've been going through here?"

Atra hugged her back, sighing. "I know, I know. I'm _sorry_, I just… I got lost."

"I'm _sure_." Kuri scoffed, pulling away quickly before head butting against Atra. "I'm slaving away for the humans and you're playing in the snow!"

"What are you calling _playing_?" Atra protested loudly. While normally this sort of bantering would have gotten quite an audience, instead most of the wolves around them seemed too tired to care. Atra glanced at those around them before calming down and lowering her voice, "How long have they been making you do this?"

"A week. Maybe two." Kuri estimated. "I'm supposed to start real work by Monday; they say I'm young enough to handle it. Probably because I fought so damn hard when I started."

"You couldn't have faked a cold or something?" Atra said with a frown.

"That whip _hurts_, Atra. And if you do get sick, and keep it up for too long, eventually they'll just decide to get rid of you. I've already seen some go that way." Kuri sighed heavily. "I just… didn't know what to do."

Atra shook her head and looked around at pain surrounding her before leaning in and murmuring slowly. "We have a chance to get out. Together. Tonight."

Kuri's eyes widened, and her voice became a hushed whisper. "How?"

"When I got lost in the last snowstorm, a pack of wolves saved me. They're _here_, in this city, now. I convinced the alpha-female to bring me to meet with them." Atra explained, getting more excited with every word. "If we could just slip away when Cole brings us to them…"

"We'd be free." Kuri finished, her lips slowly broadening into a wide smile. "Sounds like a plan.

Before her sister could answer, a second whistle blew. Kuri gasped, "Atra!" Her words were of no use, and she watched as a harness was slipped around her sister's neck moments before a human began to pull on her own, each of them being pulled to a separate crate.

* * *

><p>"Hurts like hell." Atra grumbled softly into the concrete.<p>

Kuri sighed, changing her position against the cold floor of the station. "What did you expect?" Without any luck of falling asleep, she got up and walked closer to her sibling, lying beside her with a soft sigh. "You get used to it."

Atra frowned, imagining two weeks of living through this nightmare. She closed her eyes and reveled in the content of being with her own flesh and blood once more. The same gold eyes, similar builds and features, and the same temper, though Atra's was certainly quicker to set off. Besides that, however, Atra's coat was that of a dark gray, almost black in the dim light while Kuri's was more of a darker brown. In the shadows they were practically indistinguishable, but in reality, they were two sides of the same coin: different, but unable to exist without the other.

Kuri's fur meshed against Atra's, and their minds both wandered to the nights when their pack would bundle together for warmth. Nights when you couldn't tell who's leg was who's, who's stomach was growling, and who's tail kept on falling onto your nose. It just didn't matter. You were just a pack, and you were all together. And together, you were invincible.

It occurred to them both that two wolves just didn't have the same effect.

Suddenly, soft nudges interrupted their musings. The two sisters opened their eyes to look up at the alpha-female. She smiled kindly down at them, holding a bag of food for their visit to the pack. Cole nodded, motioning them to follow her in silence.

Once they made it out of the building, Cole began to lead them to the outskirts of town. Winding through alleyways, dodging prying eyes, Cole did it so easily Atra was definitely sure that she had chosen the right escort for their escape. In fact, she felt a little bad about tricking her.

But she didn't have to feel bad for too long. Once Cole was sure no one was around to hear them, she spoke. "So how do you know these boys, Atra?"

Atra stiffened almost imperceptibly before looking up at her. Kuri was just as shocked, simply looking at the older wolf and looking around to see if this was a trap. Before either of them could get too skittish, Atra replied. "I don't. I just want to see them. I'm curious."

Cole shook her head, still with that gentle smile on her face. "You don't need to _lie_. I'm not angry at you."

Atra regarded her warily, not saying a thing. Cole turned to study their faces and sighed. "I know what you two want. It's what everyone here wants. And you're too young to suffer from what you'll be leaving behind."

As they walked past the city exit, Cole came to a stop, the bag of food still dangling in her hands. "…You're still young enough. You're still strong. Isn't that what the humans said to you, Kuri?" Cole looked to her and shook her head at Kuri's shocked expression. "But this isn't how you should be using your youth."

"…Those boys." Atra cut in, looking out into the landscape before them. The ocean. "I only knew them for a night-"

"Atra!" Kuri looked at her sister, shocked that she was admitting it all.

Atra ignored her. "But… the way they live. It's so wild… I miss it. But I don't think I have the courage to pull it off."

Cole nodded and before passing the bag of food to the sisters. "Well, here's your chance to try."

Kuri's eyes still wide, she choked with surprise. "Cole?"

"I'll only keep this." Cole said, taking a loaf of bread from the bag into her hands. "It's my gift to the boys." When Atra nodded, she shrugged, "If you had known them well, I was planning to ask you to do me a favor."

"What's that?" Atra said gingerly, willing to do anything if it meant escaping with Kuri.

"Go back to those boys… and make them leave with you as soon as you can." Cole looked into Atra and Kuri's eyes, leaving a burning impression on each of them. "You're right. They're wild. Strays. This city has no place for them. You two of all people should know why."

They nodded in slow recognition, but Cole shook her head. "But I realize now that's too much to ask. I can't give you a chance to escape and ask you to risk trapping yourselves here all over again. I'll take care of them. I promise" She gave them one last sad smile, "Now go."

Kuri stepped forward, bowing her head before turning to run far across the bridge. Atra didn't follow. "...Atra, what are you doing? Come on!" Reluctantly, she obeyed.

They ran, far, far over the sea water. The bridge stretched out before them. Finally, their paws touched snow.

Atra slowed to another halt, looking back at the city they'd just left. Kuri looked at her, impatient as ever, "What are you _doing_? Atra, it's our chance! Why do you keep on-"

"I'm going back for them." And with that Atra turned back.

"Atra? Atra!" Kuri looked between the snow and the bridge, torn between a road to her own personal hell and a road that might as well lead nowhere. Watching her sister disappearing back into the silhouette of the city, she decided one thing. At least she could run one of these roads with her sister.

Atra heard footfalls behind her and slowed slightly to let Kuri catch up. Grinning widely once Kuri fell in beside her, Atra set the pace and ran as fast as she could to make it up to that pack of strangers. Kuri saw the grin and scowled, "The things I do for you."

* * *

><p>Cole weaved through the city streets, the roads and paths familiar after many walks she'd taken in remorse. But tonight, she had mixed feelings. She felt accomplished for helping those young girls, ashamed that she couldn't do the same for her own pack. Maybe even suspenseful from having these four, hopeful strays in their midst. Yes, that summed up what she felt just fine.<p>

She thought back to the day when Zali had first begun accepting wolves from other cities to work for them. It was then that Cole realized how much had changed. Never in her life did she think Zali would make so many others suffer when their futures could otherwise be so bright. Their pack was different, this she'd always known. This was the life they'd _chose__n_. But then, that didn't make them any less wrong, then or now, and it didn't make her ache for the past any less.

She missed it, all of it. Those carefree dreams that her mate once had, that dangerous look in his eyes, just that nature of being free. What had happened? Cole was too afraid to ask.

The graveyard came into view, and she pulled herself from her own private musings to prepare herself to greet the boys. She could smell them hiding out in the broken down mausoleum, could hear the growls being emitted from their empty stomachs rather than their chests. She put on her best smile, one that she had practiced for years, and walked into view. "You boys must be starving by now."

The eldest walked forward eagerly, practically laughing with excitement. "Yes, yes, we are, we are! It's very kind of you to notice!" The white wolf took one look at her and walked away, the pup following after him.

"Wait, Kiba!" The pup called after him.

"Ah, just let him go." The wolf in front of her started gobbling up the bread, tears appearing at the corner of his eyes from the taste of food in his mouth. "Thanks, this is really great!"

Cole stared after this 'Kiba'. Yes… They were so very much like Zali. She turned to the scarred wolf in the corner, "What about you, aren't you going to eat?"

"Aw, come on. Lighten up and dig in already, will ya'?" Somehow, Cole didn't feel that the wolf's statements were sincere. He seemed happy to have the loaf all to himself. "I mean let's face it pal, there's no telling when our next meal's going to be."

"Weren't you listening back there?" The wolf growled back, "Our little trip is over. We don't have a destination. It's finished."

But despite his harsh tone, the eldest still didn't seem fazed. "Well, what do you think? Miss, uh…"

"Cole… My name is Cole." She looked to him, already amused by his attempts to flirt with her.

"Cole, huh?" His face brightened up, and the wolf in the corner wasn't all too happy about it.

She paid no mind to him and continued talking to the other. "Maybe you boys should think about staying around for a while?" An idea had slipped into her mind and she couldn't help but try it out; as long as there was a slim chance of bringing her old Zali back.

"Well that's tempting, isn't it?"

The scarred wolf finally had enough of their chit-chat and stood while the pup came running back, "Guys, Kiba went off by himself!"

Cole looked towards them. The way she saw it, it could only end up in one of two ways: either these boys would be so disgusted they'd leave, or they'd be so disgusted they'd manage to whip their broken, pathetic pack back into shape. As she watched the scarred wolf and the pup walk away, she decided that either outcome would be a relief.

* * *

><p>Atra and Kuri tread lightly as they walked back into the city. Kuri hissed at Atra every few moments, grilling her about her plan, and her connection to this pack. "You're doing this for a bunch of guys you only knew for a <em>night<em>?"

"Yes. They did a lot for me, Kuri." Atra glanced back at her.

"Oh? Like what?" Atra ignored the suggestive meaning behind her sister's taunt and continued walking. Kuri, of course, wouldn't let it go that easily. "What did you tell Cole earlier today? What she said you were too good for?"

Atra sighed, "That I was looking for a mate."

Kuri gave a barking laugh and Atra snapped her jaws right back, "Oh shut up! Do you _want_ to be caught again?"

"The things you do when I'm not around. I think you need me to keep you in line." Kuri said, her laugh quieting but not at all ceasing.

"Yes, because I'm such a wildcard when you're not around." Atra droned sarcastically.

"Aren't you?" Kuri smirked and Atra, in spite of herself, laughed. In reality, this bickering, this comfort in each other's presence was what she really had missed. And listening to her now, Atra was absolutely positive that Kuri missed teasing her sister as much as Atra missed being the victim of it.

The conversation died down and they spent a good deal of time simply walking around and looking for a sign of this pack. Kuri was beginning to get skeptical until finally, Atra spotted someone very familiar in the city graveyard. "Hige?"

Hige's ears perked up and he searched the graveyard for the source of the voice before his jaw dropped open in excitement. "Atra! And-… _Hello_." He grinned as Kuri approached. "Man, the ladies just keep on coming tonight."

"Cole already dropped by?" Atra asked, looking around.

"Yeah. Who's this?"

"Kuri, my sister." Atra paused and shook her head, "Where are the others, Hige?"

"Oh… They're around." He shrugged, "Eh, they're just throwing hissy fits. They'll be back sooner or later, just you watch."

"But we need to get out _now_, Hige." Atra stressed, looking at him with a frown. "You guys have no idea what goes on around these parts." At his blank look, Atra sighed. "Go with Kuri to find the rest of your pack. I'll go the opposite way and do the same."

Kuri blanched, "Me? With him?" Hige looked at her, insulted at her emphasis on 'him.' She ignored his look and continued, "But if I go with him that means you'll be all alone. What happens if you get caught?"

"I can last for another two weeks." Kuri stared at her in disbelief. Atra winked in response before looking at Hige sternly. "I risked a lot of shit coming here for her. Don't mess this up." She fixed him with a meaningful glare before turning away.

As she ran off, Hige stared after her. "…You know, despite all the threats and warnings, I think I like it here." He laughed and looked at Kuri. "…We haven't been formally introduced. Hi, my name's Hige."

* * *

><p>Atra glanced back towards the ruin of the mausoleum, laughing quietly to herself as she imagined Kuri stuck with the playful wolf. Hige was sweet, but at times, it seemed he was a little <em>too<em> sweet. Pulling her mind back to the matter at hand, she stopped and lowered her nose to the ground, wincing as she inhaled. She pushed past the stench in the air, the smell of pollution and decay, before she found what she was looking for. A familiar scent.

It could have been Tsume, Toboe, even Cole; Atra's meetings with the lot of them were too brief for her to memorize their scents. But it had to lead somewhere, and at least if it was Cole she'd know that they had come back to grant the favor she'd asked of them after all. So she followed it dutifully as if she knew where it was going.

As time passed by, Atra became more and more nervous. She couldn't help but feel as if someone or something was preparing to take her and drag her right back to the training grounds any moment. She whined quietly to herself and sighed, bowing her head back to the ground and taking another whiff. "Nothing…" Then she paused, and sniffed again. She tried to process the scents, until finally her eyes widened. "…Blood?"

"That fucking punk!" A clatter of metal sent Atra scurrying towards the nearest alleyway. "Who the hell does he think he is? Calling us a bunch of dogs!"

Atra slipped into the shadows, listening as a group of wolves growled. Testosterone and adrenaline filled the air, signals that they were aching to sink their teeth and claws into something that would bleed. Judging from the metallic scent clinging to them, they already had.

"Come on, Moss, let it go. That kid's not going to be bothering you any time soon." The wolves stepped into view, all the same generic dull brown. The eldest lead them, every bit of his movement suggesting that it would only take the smallest slight to set him off.

Immediately he turned on the other wolf, his voice a tense growl. "Oh you bet he won't! I'll make sure of that. I'll make sure that by this time tomorrow night, it's going to be those little bastards who'll be a bunch of dogs!"

Atra jerked a little in surprise, bumping against one of the trash cans beside her. Their ears perked up at the sound.

All the wolves' eyes turned towards the alleyway, and Atra shut her eyes. The wolf, Moss, started walking closer. "…What was that?" She could hear a sadistic sense of pleasure dripping from the sound of his voice. Atra shut her eyes tighter and kept quiet. "Come out, come out, wherever you are..."

As the wolves cornered her into the alleyway, Atra tried to keep herself from panicking. By then, she knew they could smell her. Moss barked, "Hey, bitch! Give it up, you ain't got no way out." They started to chuckle, "Come on, sweetheart. Just tell us what you heard."

Atra slowly opened her eyes, seeing his eyes as he regarded her from the mouth of the alley. Moss grinned before speaking, his tone false and sickly sweet, "We ain't gonna' hurt you. So play nice, all right?"

Before she knew it, she was racing towards them. Just when she was close enough to see the whites of their eyes, Atra leapt over the group and ran as fast as she could once she finally hit the ground.

"Get her!"

Atra could hear them yelling, their paws hitting the street behind her. She weaved through alleyways and climbed over fences, the sounds of them clamoring over the city's obstacles behind her making her run faster and push herself harder to get away. She didn't know how long it took before they finally gave up. She kept running, waiting until the only sound she could hear was that of her own breath before turning into another alley and resting against a wall.

It took her a moment to realize that she wasn't alone.

She nearly bolted all over again, but stopped as she realized two things: one, the wolf sharing the alleyway with her was badly injured, and two, the wolf was white.

* * *

><p>Kuri and Hige walked side by side within the streets, each of them governed by two conflicting emotions: Kuri, defensive and cautious, and Hige, open and completely overjoyed with her company. Before long he smiled and turned to her, "So, you're Atra's sister, huh?"<p>

Kuri confirmed the question with a simple nod, but finding that alone a little rude, explained further. "We're members of the same litter. So technically we are the same age, but I prefer to take the little sister role around Atra. Gives me more room to annoy her."

Hige laughed, "Huh. So, if you don't mind me asking, where are you guys headed?"

"Headed?" Kuri looked at him confusedly.

"Well, you have to be going somewhere, right?" Hige looked at her. Kuri looked back at him, a little dumbfounded, before slowly turning away to think. When Hige realized that he wasn't about to get a straight answer out of her, he shrugged and turned to look towards the sky. "Well I can tell you where we're headed. Or at least, where I think we're headed."

Kuri looked at him and he finished proudly. "To Paradise."

"Paradise?" Kuri laughed slightly, watching as Hige nodded with a big goofy smile on his face. She laughed again and looked towards the ground.

Hige watched her, a little insulted at her disbelief. "What's so funny?"

Kuri's smile faded at his expression. Hesitating, she looked at him in confusion before saying slowly, "You're serious?"

"Yeah, well. I mean, where else can us wolves go?" He looked towards Kuri and smiled, "I mean think about it. From the way you sound, you never even considered going there and you can't even think of where to go next!"

Those words impacted Kuri more than Hige would ever know. Staring at him for a few moments longer she said quietly, "Wolves don't actually _go_ to Paradise."

"Yeah? Well it beats looking for a city worth living in." He shrugged, and Kuri gawked at him for a moment before turning away.

"Aren't we supposed to be looking for your friends?"

Then Hige let out a loud, strangled groan. "They're big boys; they can take care of themselves. Actually, I've got my eye on another destination." He looked at Kuri, the girl immediately looking at him suspiciously. "You interested?"

"…Uh."

Hige grinned, "I'll take that as a yes." Before Kuri could give him a real answer, he dragged her away.

* * *

><p>"Kiba?"<p>

Kiba stirred slightly, his body aching all over. His ears turned in the direction of that voice, and slowly his eyes opened with them. He took one look at the form standing in front of him and lunged, his jaws poised above its throat.

Suddenly, before clamping them down he stopped and stared. It was a young woman, her skin tanned with a golden undertone as if to suggest Hispanic roots. Her eyes, brown and wide with shock and fear, were open under a few misplaced strands of dark brown, nearly black straight hair. It was a woman alright; at least, that's what she'd like you to believe.

Kiba pulled back, falling back onto the cement with a thud. He closed his eyes and leaned against the wall behind him, catching his breath just as much as Atra was. "…Sooner than you think, huh?"

Atra gave a nervous laugh, rubbing her neck before sitting against the wall across from him. "What can I say? I had a feeling."

Kiba opened his eyes and looked at her. It was no surprise that he had reacted so erratically to her appearance. When Toboe was detailing his dream to them, she'd laid in the snow in her true form, listening to their fantasies in silence. When she left, he hadn't taken her hint that their paths would cross again as a serious one. The fact of the matter was he hadn't been expecting her, and in the condition he was in now, having him see her as a human for the first time probably wasn't such a good idea.

Looking at her now, she could pass off as a human female easily. She wore a black hooded jacket zipped up just beneath the swell of her breasts, a simple, white camisole underneath. Fur lined her hood and the cuffs of her sleeves, a subtle reference to what she truly was. As Kiba's eyes traveled downwards, they were met with dark denim; skinny jeans that hugged the form of her legs, only ending at a pair of slim, black boots.

Atra interrupted his observations. "The males usually tend to like it. Human males, I mean." She said simply, politely turned away as Kiba examined her disguise. Thinking for a few moments, she shuddered as she recalled the males she had run into not even an hour earlier.

Kiba noticed the shiver and looked up at her, "What is it?"

"…Nothing. Leftover chills from the blizzard, I guess." Atra looked at him before moving closer to examine him. Kiba stiffened as she leaned into to check his wounds, growling lowly as she drew her thumb against a cut on his cheek. Atra looked at him, snapping her jaws, "Stay still." Stunned by her brief outburst, he obeyed.

She inspected his wounds, gently turning his face to allow her to examine him more fully. After a few moments, Kiba felt not the touch of a woman, but the warmth of a wolf's tongue gently cleaning the dirt from his cuts. He stiffened for a moment before reluctantly relaxing.

After a few moments, Atra pulled away. "We have to get you out of here." She frowned. "You're already in bad shape. And… I'm pretty sure those guys who did that to you are somewhere nearby."

"…What makes you say that?" Kiba asked suspiciously, looking at her.

Atra didn't answer, instead standing up. "Let's _go_." When he simply returned her urgency with a blank gaze, she let out an exasperated sigh, slowly forcing him to stand.

He watched her as she turned away, her nose twitching slightly as she breathed in the scents around her, searching for those of her sister and the wolf she'd left her with. Once she found it, she began to guide Kiba towards them.

As they slowly made their way through the alleys, Kiba licked his lips and began to speak. "Atra." His tongue still not used to the name. Still, Atra glanced at him, a sign that he hadn't gone unheard. Kiba continued, "We're even now."

Atra listened to him before bowing her head and giving a dry laugh. "Yeah. I would hope so."

* * *

><p>Kuri looked at Hige, watching his expression as he followed the sound of a faraway train. This wolf, as…. <em>i<em>_mmature_ as he may have seemed, was looking for Paradise. And despite Kuri brushing off the notion as a mere fairytale, she couldn't help but feel as if believing in anything at all, especially in these times, took more maturity than it would ever take for someone to just… give up. Nowadays, realists never survived. Not physically, barely mentally.

Living in this city for two weeks taught her that much.

People and wolves alike needed dreams to survive. To give their lives, every step they took, every moment that passed right before their eyes meaning. And it had been so long since Kuri had ever felt any meaning to her life.

Paradise… It had a ring to it.

So did the sound of that train. Kuri snapped out of her musings, her ears perking up at the shrill, familiar whistle. Then all at once, she realized just where Hige was bringing her. "_No_!"

"Oh come on! Why not?" Hige whined, "Please?"

"Hige, _no_! You're not bringing me there!" Kuri yelled back at him, her voice bordering on the edge of desperation. "You don't want to see what's going on there-"

"What, like food? Kuri, it's only a train station. And hey, look!" Hige pointed to two forms sleeping on a bench nearby. "We found Tsume and Toboe. See, they're fine!" And just like every other time Kuri had tried to protest, her cries fell on deaf ears.

Hige pulled her up to the two wolves, looking around as Toboe woke up. Toboe rubbed his eyes, "Hige?"

"Word is they'll give us some food here." Hige said, looking the other way. Meanwhile Kuri struggled against his grip, trying to pull away.

Tsume sat up, his voice tired as he looked at the strange little wolf that was obviously trying to run away. "…Who's this?"

"This is Kuri." Hige said, grinning. "Oh, hey. Guess what? This is actually Atra's sister. You know, the wolf that we met on our way here?"

"Yeah, Hige, we know." Tsume replied grumpily, looking at Kuri with the same critical look he had given Atra. Kuri looked back at him, mustering a feeble growl before Tsume smirked tiredly and looked back towards Hige. "So she's here?"

"She's looking for Kiba right now." Hige replied, "He never did come back."

Tsume sighed and leaned against the bench, closing his eyes for a few moments before something caught his attention. "…Hige, you have any other wolves you holding hostage?"

"I'm not holding her hostage!" Hige exclaimed.

Kuri laughed, "Oh yeah? It sure feels like it." Hige took one look at her and let go, watching as she fell back onto the cement. "Oh! Thanks!" She quipped.

Tsume frowned, "There are other wolves here. A _lot_ of them." He stopped and looked towards Kuri. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about it, would you? I mean, after all. You do smell like them." His eyes narrowed slightly and Kuri moved a step back.

Finding the words to say, Kuri finally gave up, frowning in resignation. "Over the railing." She looked off towards the side, and the boys glanced at her curiously before walking up to it and peering down into the station.

Kuri remained standing behind them, awaiting their reactions. She closed her eyes as she felt the boys' growing horror beside her and looked off to the side, away from the fate that _she__'d_ been resigned to not a few hours ago.

The three males watched as six wolves were pulled and harnessed to a luggage carrier, freshly loaded from the train. Their expressions of curiosity quickly changing to that of horror. Tsume noticed Zali standing a small distance away and turned, confronting him in anger.

Kuri didn't want to look, but the sounds she heard practically painted more than enough in her head to imagine. She could hear Tsume's protests, Zali's resignation. She could hear the wolves beneath them panting, their breath growing short, and the crack of the whips. All of the sounds were all too familiar. Then finally, to finish it all off, she could catch the scent of death that was slowly getting stronger, and stronger.

Not even able to bear the images swimming in her own mind, she opened her eyes and saw Atra and a white wolf slowly approaching the scene. She barked in warning, and almost immediately saw Atra react.

Atra stopped, putting a hand in front of Kiba. Soon after they'd left the alley, Kiba had decided he had enough strength to stand on his own. Now, Atra was thinking it may not be such a good idea to have the wolf walking about so freely. Kiba looked at her suspiciously, "What is it?"

"…Not here." She looked upwards, scanning the platforms that stood above the station before finally spotting Kuri and the rest of Kiba's group. She cursed inwardly, realizing that she'd taken the worst possible route to her sister. "Kiba, come on. The other way.

"But why…" Kiba stopped, his eyes suddenly falling on the display in the distance. Atra became very still beside him, bracing herself for his reaction.

He stared at the wolves in front of them, watched the humans as they urged them to move faster, work harder, whipping even when the eldest wolf of them all, one that he had only met last night, fell. Everyone knew he was dead. But the humans just kept on whipping.

Atra tensed, feeling Kiba's fur bristle beside her. His hackles raised slowly, his growl doing a crescendo to the closest to a roar his canine throat could emit as ran towards the humans, pushing Atra's to the side in the process. She let out a loud yelp as her body hit the wall beside them, just barely catching the sight of two bodies leaping down from the platforms.

Zali was the first to land, and he ran right into Kiba, clamping his jaws over his neck and holding him in place. Even while subdued, Kiba thrashed, trying to fight against the older male. The second, Kuri, crouched over her sister in concern. "Atra… Atra, are you alright?"

Atra looked at her, laughing lightly and falling back against the wall, "…Okay, Kuri. Maybe you were right…" She closed her eyes, a dull ache seeping into her body. "Maybe we shouldn't have turned back."


	3. Chapter 3

**Light Embracing Darkness: Chapter Three**

_The Countess D_

* * *

><p>The morning after was somber. The minds of every single wolf in the graveyard were weighed down by the newest body that had filled an empty lot. Zali stared down at the old hound as he rested in the grave he'd dug just the night before. Eventually he turned towards the adolescents behind him, "I thought I told you not to interfere." His voice was gentler than any other time he had spoken to them. He continued, "We have our own way of doing things around here."<p>

Kiba's voice was Zali's polar opposite, each syllable dripping in contempt, "Living like a bunch of down and out strays. Clinging to this disgusting place, and doing what you do. How can you call this a life?"

"What the hell do you know about it?" Zali roared back, every muscle in his body tensing at the accusation.

Kiba scowled, unfazed. "You're pathetic."

Taking one look at his face, Zali relaxed once more. He was too tired, too weary to continue arguing any longer. "You're kids. You're still young…"

Atra and Kuri watched from the sidelines against a tree nearby, looking on as the grave for the old man was filled. When it was done, Zali looked towards them. "…If you're planning to return to the training grounds, go now. If not, you have one day to leave before I bring you back myself."

The sisters bristled, moving closer to each other as Zali walked away. They kept their eyes on his figure as he walked back into the city. The eyes of everyone else, however, rested solely on them.

Slowly, Kiba spoke again. "…Training grounds?"

When Atra didn't speak, Kuri did, though the words that left her lips were addressed more to Atra than anyone else in the pack. "He must have dropped by to check in on us yesterday…"

Kiba's eyes narrowed. "So _this_ was the place you were looking for?" Atra turned to stare at him unflinchingly, bracing herself for whatever verbal abuse he was ready to dish out.

"I had some business to take care of." Kuri looked at her, but after Atra sent a glance her way, she kept silent.

"Really?" Kiba sneered, "So why don't you hurry up and follow them? Apparently they have more _business_ for you to do."

"Kiba, you'd do better resting than just sitting there venting about something you can't change." Atra replied in a half-hearted attempt to calm him down. She knew from the expressions on his companion's faces, after all, that there was barely any use in trying.

Toboe whined softly, "Kiba, she's right. If you keep on stressing, your wounds might open up again."

"I'm _fine_." Kiba said firmly, his eyes still on Atra. After a few moments of silence, he gave a dry laugh. "I'll say this much, Atra. You were right about one thing; this place is anything but Paradise." His eyes burned into her, and Atra's entire body stiffened. The venom in his voice made her chest tighten, whether in anger, fear or shame, she had no idea.

Forcing herself to relax, she replied with the exact same tone. "Yeah, I know. But at least whatever _I_ seek, I know I'll find." Kiba growled loudly, his hackles raised. For a moment, it seemed Kiba was about to lunge at her. But in the next, he melted all at once, his body falling against Tsume's.

Tsume loosed a quiet, annoyed growl as he supported Kiba's body. "You idiot." As Kiba closed his eyes, Tsume carried him into the mausoleum. Hige and Toboe followed, glancing back towards the sisters with cautious expressions.

Kuri watched them as they walked off with a frown. "…Nice one, Atra. You really know how to socialize." She muttered sarcastically.

Atra didn't reply, simply watching the procession before pushing off the tree. "...I do feel bad for him though. Those wounds look pretty bad."

"I know where to find some herbs." Kuri looked up at her. "Though why you'd still want to help him after he spoke to you like that, _and_ threw you against a wall beats me."

She shrugged, "Well he wasn't all _wrong_ you know." Kuri looked at her curiously, but Atra pretended not to have noticed. A thoughtful expression came across Atra's face before she asked, "Where are the herbs?"

"From what I've heard there should be a small garden nearby with a bunch of them. Towards the south, I think." Kuri replied.

"Yeah, well, you have wounds of your own to tend to." Atra sighed and started guiding her sister into the mausoleum, "Come on."

As they entered, the three (conscious) wolves looked up and stared. Kiba was laying in the corner, his wounds on full display for the world to see. Atra scoffed lowly and looked towards the others. "Anyone willing to run a few errands for me?"

Tsume scoffed right back, "Why should we?"

"Well, it'd help with Prince Charming over there." Atra gestured to Kiba. When Toboe seemed to show an interest in her offer she continued. "Kuri knows a garden where we can get some herbs that will help with Kiba's wounds. Toboe, you can come with me to go snatch some."

"If Kuri is the one who knows where the herbs are why isn't she going?" Hige asked skeptically.

"She's tired." Atra said simply. "That and I don't think I should be here when he wakes up."

Hige snorted. "You got that right."

"How do we know we can trust you?" Tsume cut in, his eyes sharp as they studied Atra. "You _were_ working for the humans after all."

Atra regarded him with a cool stare before her lips quirked up into a smile. "Are you threatened by me, Tsume?" The wolf blanched at the suggestion, but before he could get too offended Atra's tone became serious once more. "I owe all of you. And even if I didn't, Toboe would be the last person I'd try to put into danger."

Tsume frowned at her before turning to Toboe. The pup gave a half-hearted shrug. "It would help Kiba feel better. And… I trust Atra."

The older wolf grunted before turning away, resigned. "Be on your guard."

Atra smiled. "He will be. Come on, Toboe." She took Toboe's hand before walking away from their shelter.

Kuri watched them go and let out a long sigh before resting against the wall opposite of Tsume.

Tsume looked at her from across the room with detached interest. As a wolf, Kuri was extremely similar to her sister, though her fur was of a different color and slightly thinner than Atra's.

As a human, Kuri's hair corresponded with her dark brown fur with wavy hair of the same color flowing to the small of her back. Her skin was a little darker than Atra's human counterpart, and her eyes a warm brown. Her outfit, however, was a charcoal winter dress pinstriped with a gray only a couple of shades lighter than the actual 'fabric', a black belt buckled above her hips to accentuate the illusion's 'waistline'. The dress fell to about three inches above her knees, her legs themselves covered in black sheer black leggings until finishing at a pair of black boots.

He'd seen worse.

Suddenly, Kuri looked up, "…What?"

"…What do you mean 'what'?" Tsume replied, meeting her eyes.

"Why are you staring, 'what'?"

"Well that's obvious." Hige cut in, chuckling to himself. "It's not every day that Tsume meets a beautiful girl."

Tsume scoffed, "We have to get you out of this city."

"Say what you want, Tsume. You're just jealous that I have a way with the ladies." Hige winked. He then looked to Kuri, "So, Kuri… Why _were_ you here?"

Kuri looked at him before looking towards Kiba's body and thinking for a few moments. As she thought, the others waited, interested to hear her answer. But all Kuri did was prop her chin up with her cheek, her mind no longer with them. Just when Hige had given up, she started. "Your friend was right. I worked with the humans."

Tsume made a sound of disgust, looking at Kuri with newfound disdain. She pretended to ignore him, but immediately became agitated at his glare. "I was sold here."

Hige looked at her in surprise, "Sold?"

"Yeah." Kuri looked up at him. "Not all of the wolves here are from Zali's pack. Sometimes they get… shipments."

They all quieted for a few moments before Tsume spoke once more. "They could have stopped anytime they wanted to. They didn't _need_ to do this to survive. But you know, I'm thinking some of them actually _like_ fraternizing with those humans-"

"You don't know what you're talking about." Kuri insisted, "I've… I've never been, never seen, never even heard of a place as miserable as this one is… Even the wolves that started this, Cole and Zali-" Hige's ears perked up, and his attention fully rested on her, "Whenever you talk to them, you can just sense the kind of pain they're in. It's horrible."

Tsume sighed and leaned back, shutting his eyes. "Still…"

Kuri fixed him with a glare. "You don't know what these people are going through. Yes, it's horrible, but not everyone gets to run free like you do, alright?"

"But the fact is they could." Tsume retorted, his eyes still closed.

"They don't think they can_._" Kuri stared at him for a few more minutes before letting out a deep sigh. "…Look. If Atra and I come off a little strong during our time here, I'm sorry. We haven't really… been around wolves like you for a long time."

The wolves then fell silent, simply resting and listening to each other's stomachs rumble. Kuri eventually curled up against the wall and fell asleep.

Tsume opened his eyes and glanced at her. "…So Hige. What do you think?"

Hige looked at him, "About them?"

Tsume nodded. "A little too wordy for my taste, if you ask me." Tsume's brows furrowed as he thought about their last few conversations with them. "…You don't think they're planning on coming with us, do you?"

"Why not?" Hige huffed. "You know, spending everyday with all of you really makes a guy feel lonely. Besides, I kind of thought 'wordy' would be your type."

Tsume snorted, looking at Hige with a look that neared disgust. "What?"

"You know, like those strong, feisty type of girls. The only kind that'll get you to shut up." Hige smirked at him, glancing at Kuri.

"There's a fine line between feisty and annoying, and these girls are already on the edge." Tsume replied, leaning back against the wall. "But I guess that doesn't really matter to you. Your type is 'female'."

Hige pouted, his expression indignant as he searched for a comeback before it melted into a goofy grin instead. "Well that's true."

"_Idiot_." Tsume hissed, glaring at him. "Even talking to the kid is better than this. Where is the runt, anyway?"

"Still out with Atra. Don't worry; they'll be back before you know it." Hige said before reclining against the wall. Just as he said, Tsume spotted Toboe running towards the ruins with plants in his mouth soon after. Behind the pup, Atra followed with even more herbs between her own jaws.

Toboe stumbled inside, placing the leaves onto the ground. Atra did the same, though her placement was closer to Kuri. Tsume sat up, "What took you two so long?"

"We had to sneak around." Atra explained quietly. "I saw the guys who beat Kiba up. Didn't want them to recognize me." While she spoke she kept her eyes on the plants, sorting them out evenly between her and Toboe.

"Why would they recognize you?" Tsume asked.

Atra shrugged, "Well. Last night while I was looking for him, I nearly got cornered by them. They may or may not have gotten a look at me then. Plus, they're the types who've lived with this kind of crap for so long, they actually start to accept it. And by crap I mean-"

"The work with the humans." Tsume finished for her.

"Exactly." She nodded and finally pushed the larger pile of leaves towards Toboe. "Kuri and I are going to use the rest." Atra explained. "Our wounds aren't so bad, but I just want to be safe."

Toboe nodded numbly before moving to spread the leaves over a wound on Kiba's skin. Once he finished, he began to press his weight onto each leaf, watching as the color of the leaf darkened with moisture. "This should help his wounds heal a little faster."

Hige shifted, letting out a loud sigh. "It's typical. He never thinks first. Damn Kiba."

Atra scoffed lowly under her breath before moving to nudge Kuri awake. Her sister opened her eyes, glancing at the herbs under her paws before groaning and rolling over to expose her back. "Have at it."

Slowly Atra gave Kuri the same treatment, eavesdropping on bits and pieces of the conversation that was going on behind them.

Suddenly, Kiba opened his eyes. His voice urgent, he tried to sit up. "Let's go."

"Wait! You're not going anywhere with those wounds and an empty stomach." Toboe said, pushing Kiba back down. Surprisingly, or not too surprisingly, considering the extent of his injuries, Kiba listened to him.

"Well, I know _somebody_ here who has a stuffed gut." Tsume grumbled, shooting a jealous glare towards Hige.

Kuri seemed to hear this, muttering under her breath, "Not the happiest camper, is he?

Kiba turned to look their way, and Atra stiffened, turning away and closing her eyes. Almost immediately she regretted it, making herself regain her composure and look back at him. But by then his attention had already gone back to his pack.

"Hey, you were the ones who didn't eat! Cole was nice enough to bring us food and you turned up your noses." Hige shot back defensively. "It's rude to let food waste. I had no choice but to eat it all myself, someone had to do it." He smirked.

"You could have left us some." Toboe whimpered quietly.

Suddenly, Kuri gasped. "Atra!" The boys looked their way and Kuri faltered for a moment before continuing. "What happened to that bag of food Cole gave us?"

Hige's eyes widened in excitement, advancing towards them. "Wait, she had more?"

Atra ignored him. "…I think…" She placed a hand over her mouth, her eyes widening not in excitement but realization, her voice muffled as she added finished nervously, "I dropped it."

"You're _kidding_ me!" Kuri yelled. Meanwhile, the rest of the wolves stared at them, their stomachs rumbling and Tsume's left eyebrow twitching. "You _dropped_ it?"

"We were in a hurry."Atra replied defensively.

Kuri growled, pushing Atra onto the ground before walking away towards another corner. "I'm not talking to you."

"Kuri, come on!" Atra yelled back, grimacing. But Kuri simply turned up her nose.

Toboe frowned, looking towards the ground. "…So what are we going to do, we have to do something!"

Hige immediately brightened, "Like imposing on Cole's hospitality for a while?"

"No, like _you_ getting us something to eat." Tsume growled back. "_By yourself_."

"By myself?" Hige repeated in shock. Before he could protest any further, Tsume advanced with another low growl and Hige relented. "Alright, I'm going." He said as he stood.

Toboe followed a few moments afterwards, "I'm going to find more herbs for his wounds."

"Careful." Atra said weakly as he wandered off. Pouting in her little corner, she looked towards her sister across the room. Kuri stuck out her tongue, still glaring.

If she didn't know any better she could've sworn she heard Kiba laugh.

* * *

><p>The wolves were still, silent as they waited for the scent of food, the sound of footsteps, <em>anything<em>. But instead, all they heard was Tsume's stomach growling across the room. Kuri looked up at him, her eyes amused.

Tsume growled, acting as if nothing had happened and looking out towards the snow. "Where the hell is he? It's been an hour; he should be here by now."

"You think a wolf that wanted to impose on a female's hospitality would work so quickly?" Atra murmured dully, yawning and stretching her limbs out one by one.

He scoffed, "Well, there wouldn't be any need to wait if you hadn't dropped the food Cole gave to you."

"Yeah, well, I was in a rush to haul your asses out of here before you got into any more trouble." Atra said with a huff.

"Well, you didn't help much, now did you?" Tsume muttered back. "If you want to do us any more favors, go back to your training grounds and get us some food." Kuri choked, but he pressed on, "_Or_ you could always go back through the city and look for what you dropped all over again. I doubt anyone would have found it by now."

Kuri jumped up, barking at him. "We can't do that _now_."

"And why not?" Tsume barked, glaring at her.

"If we go back now, they'll know that we tried to make a run for it. And I bet you that at least half the city knows that we've been helping you by now. We'd be done for!" Kuri calmed down, shuddering, "Even with Cole's protection."

Tsume stared at her before grumbling quietly, "Why doesn't that bitch just mind her own business…?"

There seemed to be a long pause before Kiba spoke. His voice seemed dry, strained, as if it pained him to talk. Still, something told the rest of them that it'd be pointless to get him to rest any more than he already had. "So I'm guessing that you two don't plan on returning there after all?"

"Of course not!" Kuri spat back at him, shaking her head fiercely. She paused, looking to Atra. "The reason Atra came here in the first place was to find me…"

Kiba looked to Atra for a moment, noting that she avoided his gaze before turning back towards Kuri. "Where are you going to go?"

Kuri's expression turned thoughtful for a moment, but Atra beat her to the answer. "I was thinking we'd wander from city to city. Wait until we find one that suits us best."

"But…" Kuri hesitated for a moment, and this time Kiba cut in.

"Why not just go back to your pack?" This time he was eyeing Atra curiously. It seemed to Kuri that he already knew the answer. Tsume glanced at him, growling for a brief moment before turning away once more.

"Because we don't have one..." Atra glared at him, apparently realizing where he was going with this.

"…Then why not join us?"

Atra let out a bark of a laugh, "This morning you spent the last ounce of your energy on making me feel horrible for even associating myself with these humans and now you're-"

Kiba growled lowly, "You don't think I had a reason to be angry?"

"You were angry based on the assumption that Kuri and I chose this." Atra said, her voice slowly rising. "Look, I know that this pack and especially_ you _live on based on your pride. I know that you would rather die than be forced to do anything close to that for the humans, and would rather be searching for 'Paradise.' But at this point, Kuri and I just wanted to do what we could to be together and live."

Kiba took a deep breath, giving Atra a hard look all the while. "And you call that living?"

Atra observed him, feeling a pang of guilt at stressing him when he'd barely even begun to recover from his wounds. But after being so patient with him that morning, she found that she didn't have enough control of herself to replicate that performance once again. "Well, you got me there. But I don't see how wasting your life chasing fantasy could be much better."

A thick silence settled on the group as Atra turned away, determinedly looking away from the white wolf on the mausoleum floor. Finally, Kiba said bitterly, "In a world like this, fantasies are the only things worth chasing after." He paused before adding just as sharply, "Any _real_ wolf would understand that."

"Well then I guess it's settled." Atra said, turning to him and bowing her head mockingly. "It seems I'm unfit to join your pack. Please excuse my presence until we part ways."

Then, surprising all of them, Kiba laughed. It was a brief, edged sound, and startled nearly everyone in the room so profoundly that once it ended, none of them seemed to be sure that it had happened. Kiba turned to Tsume helplessly, "Remind me why Hige makes such a fuss about females again?"

Tsume smirked, and in spite of herself, Kuri let out a soft snicker. Atra immediately shot her a betrayed, indignant look, and Kuri quickly buried her face in her paws to hide her amusement. Kiba turned to Atra once more. "Look. You're right. I didn't understand what drove you and your sister to do what you did. And I didn't have a right to be so angry at you this morning."

Atra simply looked at him, crossing her arms before saying simply. "All right."

This response only seemed to add to the amusement in Kiba's eyes, though his tone remained unchanged. "And you're right. There are those out there that can't live the way we do, and even now, we've had to make sacrifices to our own pride to survive."

Tsume scoffed, "You're telling me." Kiba looked at him in annoyance but he continued on. "You're talking to the guy who wouldn't even play human to survive."

One of Atra's eyebrows cocked up in intrigue, though not much surprise. "Really?"

"Walked through a city swimming in humans, if you can believe it." Tsume nodded.

Atra smirked at the image, and Kiba raised his voice just a bit higher to regain her attention. "The point is. I asked you to join us to give you the chance."

"And aside from guilt," Atra began, noting the sudden quirk at the corner of Kiba's lips, "Why would you even give us that much?"

"Because," Kiba said simply, "You have nowhere else to go."

Atra stared at him before leaning back against a wall in thought. Kuri, who had reemerged from her paws to watch the discussion taking place, also seemed to dwell on his words in silence.

Looking towards the two sisters, Tsume picked up where Kiba left off. "Look, its common sense. Going off on your own is way more dangerous than traveling with a group like us. We've all got experience on traveling by ourselves, and you two are just starting out. The smart thing to do would be at least travel with us through the cities before you find a place you like."

"Interesting." Tsume looked at Kuri as she examined him from her position on the floor. She cocked her head to the side. "You never struck me as the babysitter type."

"I'm not." Tsume shrugged, "All I'm saying is, I'm not sure you two can handle yourselves out there. Without some help from that alpha-female, you wouldn't have even been able to handle everything down here."

Atra made another indignant sound in her throat, and Tsume pointedly ignored her, "Besides, even if you don't find a city you like, the way we're going… you won't really need to worry."

At that, Atra twitched, her expression darkening considerably as she looked away. Kiba watched her before saying quietly, "You don't believe in Paradise, do you?"

When Atra didn't reply, Kiba took another deep breath and looked up towards the ceiling. When he finally spoke again, it seemed both his voice and mind were in a place very far away. Everyone couldn't help but listen. "I saw them once before. When I was little. I was still just a cub. In the region where I was born, they had blossomed all over."

"…What are you talking about?" Tsume looked at him, his brows furrowed as he listened to him.

"White flowers that only bloomed under a full moon. They were lunar flowers. They were all burnt to ashes." Kiba's voice saddened and all they could do was stare, though Atra's gaze was more skeptical than the others. "A fire raged across our land and burned all the flowers in an instant. And all… all of my friends who's escape route was cut off were killed. I was the only one who survived. Why me…? Why just me…"

"I don't have… a pack anymore. The only place for me and for all of those like me… is Paradise." Kiba paused before turning to Atra, his eyes boring into her, "So why are you so afraid to believe in it?"

Atra stared back at him, a chill running down her spine despite herself. She counted the seconds he held her gaze, wondering if this was just another trick - a way to smooth-talk a couple of young females into a pack of not-so-innocent males. She stood up. "Kuri, I'm going to try to find some food myself, alright?"

Kuri nodded slowly, remaining on the ground. Atra's eyes narrowed at her lack of response before she started walking away.

Suddenly, the sound of metal slamming into metal reached their ears. Tsume stood immediately, "What was that?"

Kuri followed suit, walking towards the doorway Tsume stood in and staring out. "I've heard that sound before. Back at the training grounds… I always heard it before new workers arrived."

"New workers?" Tsume turned towards her. "You mean…?"

But she didn't need to answer. Soon, Kiba was standing up, his movements mindful of the pain. Tsume looked at him, "What do you think you're doing?"

"It's alright." Kiba assured him, "I can move now." At that moment, Toboe pushed past Kuri and Tsume into the ruins.

"Kiba! Are you alright?" Toboe said with concern. The pup was out of breath, and just by looking at him you could tell there was something urgent he had to say. Atra almost wished he didn't care about his pack-mate's condition so much.

"Yeah… Sorry." Kiba studied him before saying with milder concern, "You're by yourself?"

"Where's Porky?" Tsume frowned.

Toboe turned to him, the urgency returned to his voice. "That's just it! He got caught in this really big trap, and then they took him away somewhere!" Kuri and Atra stiffened, exchanging glances.

Tsume, however, remained carefree. "All he has to do is fool the humans who caught him and he can get away."

"But he _can't_! He was knocked out by those wolves that we saw, the ones that live here!" The atmosphere in the ruins changed, becoming thick with tension.

"Why the hell would he do something like that?" Tsume growled, gritting his teeth. His mood immediately turning grave, he demanded, "Where were they headed?"

"I don't know!" Toboe whined desperately.

"Why didn't you give us a warning by howling? And what are you doing here anyway, you should have followed them!" Tsume scolded.

"Oh yeah, you're right…" Toboe said, his voice full of guilt.

Kuri looped an arm around the pup's shoulders. "The more time you spend arguing about what _should_ have been done, the more time you waste." Tsume looked at her and scowled.

"Let's go." Kiba said, walking forward.

"Where to?" Tsume watched him as he slowly progressed through the doorway.

"The city."

Atra frowned and started following them. Sidling in beside Kiba, she hissed towards him, "Should you risk meeting up with those wolves again in your condition?"

"…I can handle it."

She let out a loud groan, "You don't even know where you're going!"

Kuri suddenly pushed past them, moving to the front lines. "I do! Or at least, I have a really good idea." She turned to start running, "Come on, I'll lead the way."

Atra rolled her eyes and teased, "Yeah, after two weeks on that training ground, I bet you're dying to be chased by a bunch of wolves, aren't you?"

Her sister promptly kicked a batch of snow in her face.

Atra laughed and started running with her, leaving Kiba walking slowly in the dust. Kuri glanced behind them to the wolves and muttered quietly, "You don't think they expect us to slow down for them, do you?"

Just as Atra shrugged, she heard Tsume groan behind them. "This is taking forever!" The next time they turned around, they couldn't help but laugh at the mass of white fur on Tsume's back.

* * *

><p>"Tsume, you can put me down! I can walk on my own now!"<p>

Atra and Kuri skid to a halt, watching as Tsume set Kiba back on his own two feet with amusement. Tsume rolled his shoulder, smirking at him. "Right."

Kiba leaned against the wall, catching his breath before noticing a familiar form walking down the next alleyway. Toboe stared. "That's the lady… the one from yesterday."

Kuri gasped quietly and started running after her, "Cole!" The rest followed her down the alley. But as soon as they made it there, Atra immediately wanted to get back out.

Moss turned to look at them, simply studying them. A group of his friends, all of which Atra and Kiba had seen the night before, surrounded him. One of them was the first to speak. "Well now. It looks like last night's beating didn't sink in." They began to laugh as Tsume and Toboe turned to look at Kiba in surprise.

Moss looked over the pack as his gang laughed before his eyes rested on Atra. "Now don't you ring a few bells…" He grinned before looking at Kuri, "And you..."

Atra took a step back but as soon as she noticed Moss looking at her sister, she growled. Moss simply kept on grinning. "Looks like someone wandered away from the train station. Need a hand getting back, sweetheart?" He started to advance, his hand reaching out to grab the two of them. Tsume and Kiba intercepted him, every inch of their stances betraying their urge to lunge at the wolf. But suddenly, everything came to a stop.

"Zali." Cole breathed, her eyes looking past them. The pack turned and found Zali standing behind them, his expression weary.

Tsume turned, looking at the alpha. "You mean _you_ ordered this?" He growled dangerously.

Zali raised an eyebrow, irritated at the accusation. "Ordered _what_?"

"Don't play dumb!" Tsume shouted.

"What are you talking about?" Zali shouted back, defensive and confused all at once.

This time Kiba spoke, "Is it true what we heard? That you sold out our friend to those humans?"

"Just how low will you mongrels sink?" Tsume snapped, not even waiting for an answer. Zali stared at him, and realization seemed to pass before his eyes.

"What's going on here?" He shouted, this time not to Tsume or Kiba, but to Moss.

Moss shrugged it off, "Hell if I know."

Toboe glanced at him before his eyes narrowed. "That guy said to kill him! I _heard_ you tell those humans to kill him!" He repeated with conviction.

Zali's eyes widened as he processed the pups words. It was clear that the pup believed in his words too much for them to be lies, and if they couldn't be lies… "_Moss_." Zali growled, even more firmly. This time, the wolf didn't speak. He didn't need to. Zali found all the proof he needed in his eyes.

Once Kiba saw Moss surrender, he saw his opportunity to repay them for the abuse they'd inflicted on him the night before. He started to run forward only to be thrown back by Zali. Kiba watched as Moss was punched down, his body hitting the pavement with a resounding smack. Zali turned back towards him and shouted, "This is _my_ pack." Kiba looked at him in surprise before reluctantly stepping back.

"Why the hell did you sell out their friend?" The alpha said, lowering his voice.

Moss got back up, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. Simply smirking, he explained as if it was the easiest conclusion of them all, "Because he's an outsider. That's why."

"Zali." One of Moss' companions piped up. "Isn't it you who's been selling out _your_ friends?"

"What?"

"It's the truth and you know it. You don't even do a dog's work!" He sneered.

Zali stared at them, pushing his shock aside. "Is that how you really feel?" No one answered, and the so-called 'outsiders' watched the scene unfold intently. "I always thought that as the leader I did what I had to do for the pack – without letting my personal feelings get in my way. _Everything_ I've done was to protect the pack."

Moss finally let out a fierce growl, lunging at him. "Well, none of us sees you as the leader anymore!" He and his gang pounced on him, beating their alpha into the ground.

Kiba's eyes widened, watching as Zali went through the exact same thing he had suffered through only the night before. He made another attempt to move forward, but Zali shouted as soon as he did, "Stay out of this!"

So they watched as Zali was beaten down, his body being pounded into the pavement. He didn't show any sign of defending himself, and in return Moss showed no sign of them stopping. Then suddenly, someone called out. "Stop it… Just stop it!"

Moss stopped and looked at Cole, her hands over her ears and eyes squeezed shut. He turned to one of his companions, his fists still pounding into Zali. "That's enough… _Enough_!"

"Wait!" Zali exclaimed as Moss turned to leave. "Where did they take him…? Tell me where they took their friend, Moss."

"I don't know…" Moss replied, walking away. "I don't know!"

Cole rushed over to Zali's side, kneeling over him to check his wounds. The wolves watched as she helped her mate sit up, supporting him with concern shining in her eyes. Tsume walked forward once he was settled, "You don't have any idea where they might have taken him?"

"They had him on the back of an orange truck." Toboe offered, walking to the spot beside Tsume.

"If you plan…" Zali started, "To give up on Paradise and turn back now might be the time."

"…I don't have anywhere to go back to." Kiba stared down at his face, expressionless. Atra turned away, trying to avoid his words but her ears betrayed her, turning towards the sound of his voice. "The only thing I can do is keep moving forward."

"Even if hell is what we're headed towards." Tsume added softly. Kiba turned to look at him, amazement now showing brightly on his face. "You people may not have been able to find Paradise. But there's absolutely no doubt in my mind that _we will._"

Atra felt Kuri shiver beside her and winced. Already, Atra knew what was coming, and she wasn't sure if she liked it. But all they could do for now was let the shock settle in, let the chills make their way down their spines, and recall just what they were here for. There was still a wolf missing, and until he was found there would be no Paradise at all.

Zali stared at the ground, thinking for a few moments before getting up. "Come on." Glancing at his mate, seeing the worry in her eyes, he smiled. "I can still run." And the wolves followed.

* * *

><p>With Zali, they ran the outskirts of the city, searching for the truck that held Hige inside. Atra and Kuri tailed the group at the back, lingering in a way that betrayed their awkwardness with running with a pack as they used to. When the truck finally appeared in the distance, Atra slowed even further and nudged Kuri's side.<p>

"Let's go."

Kuri turned towards her and slowed as well, "…You're kidding me. I come here for you and _you_ want to leave?"

"You're getting too caught up in this already, Kuri." Atra replied sternly, coming to a stop. Her sister did the same and glared at her.

"Well, what's so wrong with that, Atra?" She said heatedly. After glaring at her for little longer, she heaved a great sigh and shook her head. "These… these wolves are the closest to a pack we've seen in ages-"

"It's only been a few months, Kuri."

"So what?" Kuri exclaimed. "They have something to live for, Atra, if we went off on our own, could we say the same thing?"

"Haven't you already had enough excitement in your life?" Atra sighed. "Look, I've already admitted it. Coming back was a mistake. I owed them my life, I repaid it, and now the deed is done. We're going."

As Atra turned to run, a gunshot sounded nearby. She jumped, turning to see what had happened and realized that the wolves were already heading back towards them. Kuri grinned, and it was obvious that she wasn't going to budge any time soon. Defeated, she sighed and stood there, her mind clouded.

Hige ran in between them, his voice teasing as he said to both of them, "Better hurry, those humans are going to be on our tails if you don't get moving."

"Yeah Atra." Kuri sneered, "Better get moving."

* * *

><p>It was quiet and absolutely gloomy as the wolves walked through the tunnel. The air was stale, and there was the faint, lingering scent of chemicals they caught with every breath they took. A majority of the wolves had already taken to holding their breath, but after the first few minutes of traveling, they realized there was no danger to be found and relaxed.<p>

Eventually Zali jumped out of the tunnel into an even larger one, the ceiling stretching out high above their heads. The ground was sturdy, and everything around them was silent. Zali turned and stopped, facing one end as he waited for everyone to file behind him. Atra and Kuri lingered back at the exit of the first tunnel, reluctant. Finally, Zali stated. "This is as far as I plan to go. From here on out, you're all on your own."

"You mean you're not coming with us?" Kiba asked, shock hiding behind that carefully composed tone he always seemed to use. "You're going to… keep… living here?"

"I don't know if the place we tried to find was real or not." Zali replied, "But I believe if there's somebody who can make it to Paradise, there are some who can't. I'm convinced of that. And it's time for you to find out for yourselves if the real Paradise does exist somewhere at the end of this road."

"You know, you don't seem like much of a wolf." Tsume noted, ignoring Kiba when he said his name to scold him. "A wolf protects its own; it's not natural for it to look after another pack."

For the first time since they had first ventured into this tunnel, Zali turned to look at Tsume, a small smile on his face. "You're right." He laughed slightly as he spoke, "I guess I really have fallen."

After a moment of silence, it was clear that they had nothing else left to say. Kiba started running. The others immediately started running after him, and as Kuri jumped down into the main road, Atra let out a small sound of protest.

Zali spoke again, this time to the girls. "I have no intentions of turning you in. But if you want to stay, you're welcome to. But let me just say… This place is no Paradise." He laughed and looked at the sisters, Atra staring at him blankly.

"Come on, Atra, let's _go_." Kuri urged, running after the boys.

Atra watched her run, completely torn on whether or not to follow. After moving jerkily in place for a few moments, she let out a growl and ran to catch up to her sister. Once she was finally alongside her, Kuri shot her a knowing grin. Atra growled, albeit playfully, once more, "The things I do for you."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> This is just an author's note letting those who are invested in reading this story as it goes along that I'm prolonging the timespan between updates. I'd originally planned to post one chapter a week, but I'm extending the wait to two weeks between a chapter. This is mostly due to the fact that I'll be going off to school very soon, and while I'm actually ahead on writing chapters for this story, I'd like to allow myself more time to _stay _ahead. In the meantime, expect minor revisions on chapters between every update. I can't seem to stop rereading this story and finding new errors and new things I'd like to correct. At this point, however, the changes will be primarily grammatical and nothing really worth rereading the chapters for. I'm just doing them to satisfy my own perfectionist tendencies.

Also, it will be a long while before the plot of this fic coincides with the anime storyline once more. I particularly liked these two episodes (5 and 6 respectively) so I always thought it was a good way to introduce my OCs. It will join with the anime again at Episode 7, but that will be a good amount of chapters later. The chapters, also, will be a little shorter on average than these first three. Considering these a particularly heavy introduction, a pilot "episode" if you like, for the rest of the story that follows. That's all for now!

**_Ashlight11:_** Thank you for reviewing! Before you did, I was getting a little discouraged by the lack of reviews. Of course, I was still going to keep posting the fic, but its nice to know that people actually like the stories you're putting effort into all the same. ;] Knowing that I'm keeping my reign on my characters _and_ making the emotions realistic really means a lot to me. So thanks again!


	4. Chapter 4

**Light Embracing Darkness: Chapter Four**

_The Countess D_

* * *

><p>Atra never could remember how long they'd stayed in that tunnel. Her memories of that time were all darkness and uncertainty, with only the sound of paws running across the ground in front of them to guide them to the exit. They'd been silent most of the way, but eventually Atra was hit with the realization that the <em>only<em> paws they could hear in the tunnel were theirs.

She'd voiced her concern to Kuri, who, though making more of an effort to stay optimistic, seemed just as worried about this realization. They _had_ started to run later than the boys did, and maybe they weren't sure if the sisters had intended to join their quest. Atra even entertained the idea that they didn't care either way, had expected them to keep up, and had no intention of waiting for them if they didn't. And beyond that, there was a whole slew of things that could go wrong with their decision to join the strays. After all, two eligible females joining an all-male pack was like deer waltzing into the lion's den.

For not the first time in the past few days, Atra asked herself what she'd got herself into.

When the sisters caught the sight of a pinprick of light at the end of the tunnel, the relief that spread through Atra was borne solely out of the possibility of forgetting about the boys they'd chosen to follow. But when that pinprick of light became a full-sized exit, and when they stepped out of it into snow once more, the first thing they saw was the sight of four wolves sitting in the snow... waiting.

They were speechless. Atra looked towards Kiba, confused and somewhat dazed. All he gave her was a small, secretive smile. As soon as that silent moment of understanding passed between them, the white wolf turned, and they took off running once more.

Since that moment, it felt as if they had been silently welcomed into the pack, a notion that Kuri was content with and Atra was still a little unsettled by. But she decided to keep quiet about her concerns until the next time they settled down to rest, an instance that seemed to be few and far between for this pack.

When the pack finally slowed to a stop, nearly all of the wolves gratefully collapsed into the snow, the exhaustion in their limbs overriding their sense of biting cold.

Hige laughed from his position on the ground, looking up at Kuri. "How you girls holding up?"

Kuri settled on her heels to sit down and rest. "We're fine. Don't worry about us."

Toboe panted a few feet away in the snow, shaking the snow off his fur before yawning, "Where are we going to stay, anyway? There's no shelter anywhere near here."

"Yeah, and I doubt there would be any other caves nearby." Tsume murmured, still on his feet. He turned his head to scan the landscape, but all he could see was snow. He looked towards Kiba. "Any ideas?"

"We could always keep moving."

This option elicited more than a few groans from the pack.

Kiba closed his eyes, seeming to take a breath before sitting down himself. "Or we could just deal with the cold and sleep here for a little while… Not for long though."

The pack accepted this decision, yawning and trying to find a position comfortable enough for them to sleep in the snow. Toboe blinked, burrowing his body a few inches deep. "…You don't think that it's going to snow even more tonight, do you?"

"After that storm, I sure hope not." Tsume replied, already lying on his back.

"Man, I hate winter." Hige whined, frowning deeply before suddenly turning to the girls. "Hey, if you guys are a little chilly, I'm definitely available!" He grinned.

Kuri laughed, "Do you ever give it a rest?"

"No." Tsume replied for him.

Hige looked around at his friends, groaning. "Aw come on. I'm just trying to extend a warm welcome."

"Nobody wants your warm welcome." Tsume said with distaste. "Now shut up and go to sleep." Hige grumbled half-heartedly before rolling over in the snow. Judging from the sound of his breathing, he'd listened.

Atra smiled to herself before closing her eyes, waiting as those around her slowly dropped off to sleep. She yawned quietly and moved to sit up. Despite how tired she was, she couldn't seem to quiet her own thoughts about what she and Kuri got themselves into. There was too much to consider, too much to think about. How could she possibly sleep now?

"It's only the first day and you're already trying to leave?"

She looked from each face to the next before finally landing on Kiba's. Jumping a little at the shock of amber staring up at her in the dark, she let out an exasperated sigh. "You scared me. I didn't even realize you were there."

He didn't say anything, his eyes glinting with mild amusement.

Atra glared back at him before turning away, "I wasn't trying to leave. I just can't sleep."

"You haven't said much since joining us." Kiba rested his head on his paws, "It… doesn't seem like you." A trace of a smirk touched his features.

Atra growled lowly in annoyance before walking away a small distance, not wanting to risk waking the rest of the wolves up. Kiba waited for a little while and followed. "If you don't want to be here, you can always leave."

"Kuri wants to stay." She frowned and shook her head, "Who knows why."

Kiba shrugged beside her as they walked. He glanced back towards the pack to make sure they weren't too far away before replying, "She wants to find Paradise."

Atra rolled her eyes, "Right. Thanks for talking her into it."

Kiba's brow knit in consternation, "No one talked her into it."

"Well, we definitely didn't plan on chasing after fairytales before we met all of you. What other explanation could there be?" She continued walking before realizing that Kiba was no longer at her side, turning to see the wolf in question giving her a frown a few steps back. "…What?"

Kiba said nothing and simply looked away. Atra regarded him cautiously before realization dawned on her. "Oh… Sorry. I didn't mean—"

"I don't understand." Kiba said suddenly, and the sound of his voice, though quiet, effectively made Atra fall silent. He glanced at Atra before continuing, his tone calm, but his words suggesting a greater agitation beneath the surface. "You live in this… barren, empty world. You've obviously suffered. How can you live from day to day without believing that there's something better than this?"

Atra looked at him, her eyes tinged with disbelief. "How can _you_ fool yourself into believing anything different?" Kiba's eyes narrowed slightly, and she felt herself hesitate, a part of her wary of crossing the line with the white wolf once again. But the greater part of her (the part that was both foolish and stubborn) won out in the end, and she pressed on, "It's one thing to believe in Paradise, but to _chase_ it. To drag _others_ into chasing it—"

"I never _dragged_ anyone." Kiba said sharply at the accusation. "Everyone here is here by choice. Including you." He held Atra's gaze in his for a moment before saying almost triumphantly, "You could have told Kuri no. You don't _need_ to be here. And yet, here you are."

Atra felt a muscle along her jaw twitch and soon found herself glaring at the white wolf. Gathering what self control she had left, she turned away, beginning to walk from him. Kiba let out a low growl beneath his breath behind her before easily catching up, matching his pace to hers. The she-wolf moved jerkily in the other direction, and Kiba followed. Finally, Atra decided to address him.

"I get it, all right. I won't chase after Paradise, therefore I suck as a wolf. I've heard it enough times to get it through my head." Atra said heatedly, her eyes focused on the stretch of snow before her.

Kiba shook his head, "Why are you so bitter?" Atra paused mid-step before turning to look at him, her expression guarded. "When you say we're only chasing fairytales, who are you trying to convince? The rest of us? Or just you?"

Atra stared at him, and Kiba met her eyes straight on, waiting for a few moments before he turned with a little shrug. Just as he was about to say her reply didn't matter in the least to him, Atra answered, "How can you be so sure about this?"

He looked to her, his eyes widening slightly at her sudden response. Atra shook her head before saying agitatedly, "Doesn't it scare you? The idea that maybe everything you're chasing is some big lie? That all the sacrifices you'll have to make along the way will mean nothing?"

And for all the questions Atra was feeding him, Kiba heard a definitive answer beneath her words. Some part of the she-wolf in front of him, no matter how small, had considered the idea of finding Paradise. It seemed that she had also considered the possibility of not having any Paradise to find after all.

She'd given thought to this. Some part of her wanted this, some part of her believe. And Kiba couldn't help but be a little disappointed, a little sad at the thought that somewhere along the line, she'd decided to lock that part of her away.

"I told you. What scares me more is thinking that there's nothing worth chasing at all." Kiba replied honestly. He watched as Atra looked at him, somewhat puzzled and somewhat awed before her expression hardened.

She turned away, slipping into thought as she stared across the snow. Kiba watched her, waiting for her to speak again. When she did, her words were resigned. "I don't want to fight with you." Kiba looked to her and she let out a quiet sigh, "And with this subject, I feel like that's inevitable."

Kiba smiled a little to himself at the accuracy of her words. "So?"

"So…" Atra began slowly, "I've been thinking about what you said earlier. About the fact that I could have said no." Kiba nodded as he looked at her, waiting for her to get to the point. Atra hesitated, another thought seeming to be resting at the tip of her tongue. From the hint of frustration in her tone and faint grimace on her lips, that thought was not the one that ended up being spoken. "I could have. But Kuri…"

Kiba studied her, easily spotting the hint of vulnerability in Atra's expression whenever Kuri was brought into the conversation. Slowly, he asked her, "Do _you_ want to be here?"

"I want to be with Kuri." Was Atra's immediate response. But suddenly, doubt entered her eyes and she hesitated. "But in a pack like this…"

After a long silence, Atra turned to him, the snow crunching beneath her paws. "I want to let you know now: regardless of what Kuri decides to do, I don't think I'll be staying with this pack until the end." Kiba looked at her, his gaze just a bit critical before it softened in understanding. He nodded for her to continue.

"But if I could travel with all of you as friends," Atra said slowly, the emphasis on the word 'friends' not missed by Kiba, "And find a safe place to stay, and part with you as friends… I would appreciate it."

She bowed her head slightly, her eyes focused intently on the ground at Kiba's feet. Kiba tensed slightly, surprised and a little unnerved by the submissive act from the she-wolf that, since their first meeting, had been anything but. He took a moment to compose himself before looking at the wolf in front of him, the darkness of her fur conspicuous against the snow.

Finally, he said with a small sigh, "Get up." Atra blinked a little before straightening herself, looking at Kiba with curious eyes. "We're not going to leave you out in the snow just because we don't have the same goals. We'll let you leave whenever you want." He paused before saying slowly, "On one condition."

Atra's eyebrows raised momentarily at the statement before she regarded him with no small hint of suspicion. "What?"

Kiba considered his thought before looking to her and saying definitively, "You need to face me and tell me that you don't think Paradise is worth looking for. That you won't regret leaving."

She processed his words before cocking a brow, an easy smile gracing her lips. "You think you'll be able to convince me to think otherwise?"

"I think you won't need much convincing." He replied seriously before giving Atra a smile that matched hers.

Atra leveled her gaze with Kiba's before scoffing good-naturedly under her breath, turning away. "You're on." Her smile broadened slightly, a little thrilled at the small challenge Kiba had presented her with before she turned to him once more, saying firmly. "It's a deal."

Kiba watched her in her (almost childish) excitement before giving a small nod. Then, unceremoniously, Atra picked herself up and began to walk back to the pack. He waited, giving her a small lead before following after her.

No… he didn't think she'd need much convincing at all.

* * *

><p>"Where's the next city?" Toboe asked tiredly as they trudged through the snow. It was their third day out in the wilderness, and after two nights of sleeping in snow, they were all ready to socialize with some humans for a good night's sleep. After all, it's not often they slept in a bed.<p>

"Definitely not here." Tsume growled. "We haven't had any food lately either. What do you think our chances are of getting anything out of a hunt here?"

"Not much." Hige answered, "I haven't smelled anything edible since we left that city. Damn it, why do we always travel hungry?"

Tsume smirked, "Well, you could a few days of starvation, Porky."

Kuri laughed before stopping in mid-step. "…Actually. I think I smell something." The others stopped and watched her as she breathed in the air, exhaling in a puff of white. "It's faint, but I think it's… a forest."

Hige's face immediately brightened up, and he raised his nose up to take a whiff of their surroundings himself. "Hey, I think she's right. Bark. Maybe there's something to eat, there. If anything, it would be a good place to rest."

"Where is it?" Kiba asked, looking towards Hige.

"The west." Kuri replied instead. Kiba turned to her before looking to Hige for confirmation. The elder wolf nodded and flashed Kiba the thumbs up.

"Sounds accurate to me."

Kiba nodded before turning to the west. The others followed, Hige and Toboe bounding happily towards the very idea of something to eat. Kuri watched them go, smiling as Atra passed by her, nudging her gently with silent approval.

Kuri stayed behind to watch them leave, not budging from her spot until Atra laughed and looked at her. "Come on. We need to find this forest of yours."

They had gotten to know the pack a lot even in such a short amount of time. They all seemed to have their roles at first, and were seemingly easy to define. But now that they'd begun to truly know them, each of the males had become characters all of their own, and far from conventional ones at that.

Toboe: the youngest of the pack, the most obedient, and the very first that Kuri and Atra had become absolutely enamored with. It was obvious that he had been the subject of much teasing with all the boys, and now that Atra and Kuri were here, he often gravitated towards them whenever the teasing got a little too harsh or when he just needed a motherly-figure to help him through the nights. But there was an obstinacy beneath his outward disposition that the girls could see, and they were sure that he would make a fine wolf one day.

Hige: the one who pushed everyone's buttons, and had the talent of lightening the mood throughout their journey. Atra tended to get along with him, their conversations light and usually an exchange of verbal jabs and blows. Kuri, on the other hand, was still a little weary of him. She stuck by her impression of Hige as a wolf that was a tad too friendly, and considering that he was mateless and of the age to start pursuing a potential one, Kuri kept her distance. Still, Hige seemed to sense her apprehension and had toned down his flirtations with either of the girls, and seemed to be taking the role of an older brother to them more than anything.

Then there was Tsume. So far, neither of the girls had managed to figure him out. When they first had been acquainted with him, he had adopted a tough, suspicious persona and he still had yet to drop it. The only time there was a flicker of anything else beneath that leathery surface was back at the city. Kuri wouldn't admit it, but it was that one speech that he had given Zali that had made her decide that she wanted to travel with this pack of theirs, to Paradise. Still, she wished that she could see a bit more of _that_ Tsume, rather the infuriating one that never seemed to lighten up.

That left Kiba, the strong, stoic wolf who showed the warmest side of him at the most intermittent moments. After their display in the city, Kuri hadn't expected Atra and Kiba to get along on this journey, but somehow it seemed that they'd begun to build a shaky friendship with each other borne out of mutual respect. Silently, Kuri mused that it might be their stubbornness that allowed them to get along, and even more ironically, their willingness to challenge the other. For, while they never engaged in arguments like the one they'd had in the mausoleum, Kuri would sometimes see a glint of intrigue in their eyes at a comment the other would make, as if they were filing it away to pitch against them when the time came.

Kuri was sure she wasn't the only one who noticed. After all, it would be hard to miss two wolves attempting to test the other's limits.

"Hey, Atra. Get over here." Kuri motioned her sister towards the pack as they settled on the outskirts of the forest Kuri had 'found.'

Atra obeyed and looked around. The forest seemed to stretch on, and had been tucked away in a small valley to the west of their original vantage point. No signs of life could be seen behind the branches, but the trees seemed to go on long enough for there to be a spot of hope for prey either way.

"Do you really think there are going to be animals here?" Toboe looked up at Kuri.

Kuri seemed to think for a moment before bending down to grin at Toboe cheerfully, "Well we're here aren't we?" Toboe laughed dryly, and Tsume scoffed.

"If there are, we're going to have a hell of a time trying to find them." Tsume looked around, that same sullen frown fixated on his face.

Hige nodded, "So that means we better start looking, right?"

"I'll get started." Kiba sighed as he got up, but almost immediately Toboe reached up and pulled him back down.

"Kiba, you should rest!" Toboe frowned, "Your wounds aren't fully healed, what if they open back up again?"

"Well I say Kuri should go and hunt." Tsume said, crossing his arms and looking at her. The others looked up at him in surprise and interest. "She brought us here; she might as well finish the job."

Atra frowned before speaking back to Tsume, "Well I think that's a little unfair. She's already done her part; I haven't seen you go out for a hunt yet."

Tsume blinked, surprised at her reply before growling and leaning towards her, a shot at intimidation. "Excuse me?"

Atra moved forward as well, pouting slightly. "You heard me."

Then Kuri started laughing, a nervous edge to her voice. "Oh relax, Atra, I'm fine." She paused and looked at Tsume, "But she's right. We haven't seen you in action."

"What are you implying?"

"Why don't you come with me? I mean, just in case I mess this up." Kuri asked teasingly. Tsume stared at her in disbelief but couldn't protest before the rest of the wolves suddenly started agreeing, interested in what now seemed to be a battle of the sexes.

"Alright… _Alright_!" Tsume shouted towards the rest of them before he started walking towards Kuri. A little too roughly, he took a hold of her arm and started pulling her deeper into the forest. "Let's go."

* * *

><p>Kuri followed obediently as Tsume led her through the trees, their paws barely making a sound against the soft snow. Tsume paused, looking around before scoffing. "Looks like there's nothing here… What kind of forest did you lead us to?" He glared at Kuri accusingly.<p>

She rolled her eyes and stepped a few feet away from him, wandering around and breathing in the scents around her. For a while, all she could smell was snow and bark. But finally, a scent reached her nose that made her begin to lick her chops in anticipation.

Meanwhile, Tsume leaned against a tree, ever the pessimist. "You know, even if we do find anything here, it probably be rabbits. And even then, they probably wouldn't be enough to feed the entire pack." He pushed himself off the tree, "But I guess we have to start looking anyway." He paused, seeing Kuri already running to the northern part of the forest. He grimaced and followed after her.

"What are you doing?" He hissed when she was finally within earshot.

"Deer!" Kuri said laughingly, running even faster. Finally, she slowed down and brought her belly low to the snow, crawling until she was behind a few bushes that had barely lasted through the winter. Tsume did the same and looked forward, seeing, to his shock, one lone doe feeding off the dead bark of the trees around them.

Tsume stared with wide eyes. The doe was thin, probably from starving in this mockery of a forest, and from its glassy eyes, it was clear that it was sick. It was a good target.

When he tore his eyes away from their prey, Kuri's eyes flicked toward him, a silent demand to cross to the other side of the clearing. Irritated as he was, Tsume did just that.

Kuri watched the other end of the clearing, letting out a soft breath of relief when she finally saw his gray fur between the little leaves the bushes had. She looked back towards the doe, watching as she moved from tree to tree.

When the doe finally moved to leave Kuri's tail began to wag excitedly. It was time. She leapt out of the bushes, rushing towards her. Tsume, the closest towards her, immediately leaped out as well, his jaws already snapping for a bite at her heels. Shocked at their sudden appearance, the doe hesitated for a split second before making a run for it, beginning their chase.

For who knows how long, all Tsume and Kuri did was toy with their prey, chasing it into the thickest part of the forest, chasing it back out, and running so quickly they were nipping at her heels before falling back just to let it get away again. The thrill of the hunt was pumping adrenaline through their veins, and it had been so long since either of them had felt it, they didn't want to let go. But eventually, Tsume sent Kuri a look, and she immediately understood: it was time to stop playing with their food.

They ran faster, the ache in their legs from their journey so far suddenly gone, until they were on either side of the deer. Finally, Tsume made the first leap at her legs. But with a crack, he was sent flying as the doe kicked at him at just the right moment.

Kuri ducked from her legs, having no time to check on Tsume. Instead, she jumped, her jaws open and finally clamping down on the doe's neck. The deer stumbled, but kept on running. Still, Kuri held fast, knowing that it was all she needed to do until finally the deer fell into the snow.

As if heaving a great yawn, Kuri opened her jaws and pulled back from her prey before looking back to Tsume. Knowing she should be more concerned, she wiped that grin of triumph from her face and watched as Tsume walked over, his hands placed over his stomach. "You know. When you go hunting with someone you're supposed to have their back."

She smiled apologetically, allowing her eyes to flicker towards his abdomen. That was definitely going to bruise. "Are you okay?"

He scowled, "I'm fine."

"We should probably get back to the pack." Kuri suggested, still smiling.

"Yeah… you're right."

"…Do you think you could help me carry it?"

Tsume's eyes opened, and if Kuri hadn't been so proud at the moment, the glare he gave her probably would've killed her. Without saying a word, he got up and walked to the carcass, throwing the doe's lifeless body across his shoulder blades before marching back towards the pack.

Kuri put a hand over her mouth, stifling a laugh before catching up with him. "…So… Tsume." He didn't even pay her a glance. "…I'm guessing you got your scar during a hunt?"

Instantly, Kuri ducked, dodging the half-hearted fist Tsume had thrown her way.

* * *

><p>Atra rested at the base of the tree, her eyes on the sky above her. She spoke, not really addressing any of the wolves around here. "So this is how you boys travel, huh?"<p>

"Yep." Hige replied, toying with a twig in the snow.

Toboe turned in his seat beside Atra to look up at her. "What about you? Is it any different from how you used to get around?"

She looked down at the boy, her lips protruding in a thoughtful pout as she considered his question. "Well. I followed the humans. I'd go through the cities, snag some food and shack up in the abandoned parts of town. I guess I've never really been out in the wild like this for a while."

"And your pack?" Kiba asked from across the clearing. Atra looked up at him and he clarified, "When you were still with them. Did they move around a lot?"

She shook her head, a trace of a smile coming over her features. "No. We were… content just staying in one spot." There was a strange note to her words, and Kiba's brow wrinkled slightly before Atra gave a dismissive shrug. "Either way. This really is the first time I've been this far from civilization. Really feels like I'm on my own now, in a way."

"But you're not. You have us." Toboe said brightly. When Atra looked at him, Toboe gave a nervous laugh. "Well, I mean, you're running with us now. And finding shelter and food can be hard, but the way we live is really fun. Actually, it's the first time I'm experiencing it too!"

Atra blinked, "Really?"

Toboe nodded happily, and Hige cut in with a sigh. "City pups. Both of you."

Atra shot him an indignant look. "Yeah, well at least city pups have an easier time getting fed." Looking back to Toboe, she winked. He gave another sheepish laugh in response, though his grin was wide.

"You show me a pack of wolves living in luxury right now, city or stray, and I'll show you a cat with wings." Hige drawled, yawning and turning in the snow.

She glanced at him, sighing. "Well… at least Tsume and Kuri are hunting for food right now."

Kiba looked at her, "You really think they'll find anything?"

Atra considered his words before giving a little shrug. "Kuri has a good nose. She brought us here, didn't she?" Seeing those gentle looks of skepticism still on their faces, she continued. "She was one of the better hunters in our litter. Tsume doesn't seem like he'd be half-bad either. Let's just say I wouldn't be surprised."

Hige's eyes widened slightly before relaxing again, "Wow. So Atra, are you good at anything?" He grinned widely and Atra immediately kicked some snow at him. He laughed and brushed it off.

Then, it seemed all of the wolves in the clearing caught wind of Tsume and Kuri's approach. They turned in the same direction, looking for what they thought they smelled. Hige's jaw fell open as the two wolves emerged from the trees, "Holy crap! They have food!"

Toboe nodded, gaping at the doe on Tsume's shoulders. "Yeah, looks like lots of it too!"

Kuri laughed, waving as she walked into the clearing. Tsume, still sore from the hunt , simply walked to the center and threw the carcass down into the snow.

Atra looked at Kuri, her lips curling into a smile when her sister gave her a wink. Atra then turned to Toboe, gently nudging him awake. Immediately, Toboe jumped up in awe. "

"So Kuri, how did Tsume do?" Atra asked, although something in the way she said it implied she already knew the answer.

Kuri flushed slightly, "Well…" She glanced at Tsume before giving a soft laugh, "He did okay. He's going to have to take it easy with that bruise, though."

"Bruise?" Hige looked at Tsume before noticing that he was unconsciously rubbing his stomach, his features twisted into a grimace as he did so. "…I'm not going to ask."

"Good." Tsume barked. "Don't."

Toboe blinked, "So what did you do, Tsume?"

Tsume looked at Toboe, staring for a few moments before another low growl sounded from his chest as he turned to sit further away from the pack.

Atra leaned over towards her sister, "He seems like he's irritated about something."

"Doesn't he always?" Kuri laughed.

Hige got up, heading straight towards the food before Kiba stopped him. "Hige." The wolf looked at him, confused and impatient. "It's Kuri's kill. She gets the first bite. Then Tsume."

"But he didn't even do anything!" Hige whined, ducking out of habit when Tsume barked fiercely.

Kiba chuckled and looked at Kuri, motioning for her to start. She smiled gratefully, glancing at Atra with a small shrug before starting to eat. One by one, the wolves walked up to get their fill.

As Atra encouraged Toboe to eat before she did, Kiba took the pup's place by her side. "You're thinking about something."

She glanced at him and shrugged, keeping quiet. He made no move to get a reply, but somehow his silence was just as probing as any question he could have asked. She spoke lowly, "All of you are really starting to accept her as a part of the pack… Aren't you?"

Kiba said nothing, so she added, "After this hunt especially, am I right?"

Ignoring Atra's attempts to foster small talk, Kiba studied Atra's sister from across the clearing, lowering his voice as he spoke to Atra. "Does she know? Our deal, I mean. That you don't plan to stay."

"Not yet." Atra confessed, looking down out of embarrassment. "I mean the only reason we're here with all of you now is because we went through all that crap just to get back together again. And I know that just waiting to talk about it is going to make it harder… But I just… can't…" She sighed.

They were quiet for a few minutes as Toboe finished, and as the pup left Atra became aware that the eyes of the pack were zeroed in on her and Kiba. Puzzled, she looked from one to the other until finally Kiba smiled and nudged her gently. "Go ahead."

Embarrassed, she walked up and started to eat.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Hey guys! Just wanted to drop a quick note to say that (obviously) I've extended the timespan between updates to two weeks, and this chapter in particular is kind of special. This is the last and final chapter that I will be posting for this fic before I enter college. Yes, the next chapter I will be posting will be at the end of my orientation. I actually wrote the original _Light Embracing Darkness_ when I was ten, and was still writing it when I first entered middle school. So it's kind of crazy to think that the remake of it will be in progress as I enter college. Anyway, spiel aside, I hoped you all enjoyed this week's chapter and thanks to all of you who reviewed! Have a great two weeks! I know I will.

**_BeneaththeMarquee_:** Thank you for the review! Admittedly, the fact that there are so few well-written Wolf's Rain fics on this site is what prompted me to post mine. This was originally going to be a private story between myself and the friend Kuri was based off of, but I figured that there might be some people on here that would enjoy it. And thanks so much for saying that my characters aren't Mary Sues! I guess from this point on the challenge is making sure they stay likable and realistic. Don't worry though, the way this fic is going, there will be plenty of time for me to add in little traits and quirks to them both. :]


	5. Chapter 5

**Light Embracing Darkness: Chapter Five**

_The Countess D_

* * *

><p>"For once, I wish we could find a city that wasn't so…" Hige paused to think before finishing, "polluted."<p>

"That would kind of take away from the whole… 'urban experience,' Hige." Kuri smiled.

"Well can we have the urban experience without smelling it?" He exclaimed, "My nose is still recovering from the last one!"

Kuri laughed and looked around her. The city had been just over the crest of the valley where they'd found the forest, and they'd entered it more out of necessity than anything. Compared to Zali and Cole's city, this one was monstrous in size, not to mention much more populated. Everywhere humans hustled and bustled through the streets, selling their overpriced wares to gullible passerby. The pack walked closely to one another, finding it harder to keep from getting separated with every step.

Toboe in particular walked closely to Kuri, holding on tightly to her arm as they made their way through the crowds. He looked up at Kiba, "Are we going to stay here tonight?"

"Depends." He replied, maneuvering around a bum sitting on the sidewalk, a bottle of beer resting in his hands. Kiba glanced at the man, watching his dumbfounded expression slowly turn to one of shock and fear as he realized the pack of wolves passing right in front of his eyes. As he started to scream and scramble for cover, Kiba turned away and pretended not to notice. Acting as if nothing had happened he continued to speak, "If we can find a place to stay, we could rest here for the night."

"This place is filled." Tsume murmured. He grunted quietly as a couple of kids pushed past him and scowled, "How the hell are we going to find somewhere to sleep here? Unless you suggest shack up with that friend you made back there." He jerked his thumb back towards the sound of the bum still screaming about giant dogs out for blood.

"Well, with all these people there should be a lot of hotels here." Atra offered. "We could always stay in one of them."

The other wolves glanced at her, disbelief in their eyes. Hige scoffed, "That would work if not for the money and the big "No Dogs Allowed" sign on the doors."

"If you want to be referred to as a dog, be my guest. And if you didn't notice, idiot, that's what these disguises are for. We've walked past who knows how many people, and only _one_ person saw us for who we really are. And that's only because he had a little too much to drink. So unless the employees work drunk, I'm not concerned." Atra replied, rolling her eyes.

"And the money?" Tsume asked.

"This place is packed with it." Atra answered, looking pointedly at a woman in front of a merchant searching for her wallet. Kuri made a sound of annoyance.

"Atra, this has never been and never will be a good idea."

Kiba looked to Kuri with a frown, "You mean she's tried this before?"

Kuri seemed to hesitate before giving a curt nod and turning back to Atra, her voice dwindling into a low hiss. "You shouldn't mess around with humans the way you do, it's not safe."

"You've seen me bring back tons of things from neighboring cities before, Kuri. Wallets were always one of them." Atra replied, rolling her eyes at her sister's concern.

"But you've run into a lot of trouble to get them." Kuri pointed out with a frustrated scowl. "You think I don't remember the incident with the pound?"

"The pound?" Hige asked with an impressed grin.

Atra shot him a glare before shaking her head. "I _got away_. Kuri, there's nothing to be worried about."

"There is." Kiba cut in, feeling Atra immediately turn to him in surprise. "It's too dangerous."

Atra looked at him blankly before her expression hardened. "It's not like I don't know how to do this-"

"I know that you do." Kiba turned to look at her as he slowed to a stop. The rest of the pack did the same, watching as Atra looked up at Kiba indignantly. "You've never managed to pull it off on a group this big. I'm not willing to risk it."

"…Okay." Atra smiled, her tone and smile sickly sweet. "So where are we going to sleep tonight? I'm sure you'll be able to figure that out just fine."

Kiba's eyes narrowed, a barely perceptible rumble sounding from the depths of his chest. Atra felt her tail twitch, and the thought of lowering her eyes and stepping away entered her mind before Kiba turned back towards the sidewalk in front of him without a reply. Hige cleared his throat awkwardly, "Well I think Atra's idea is a pretty good one. Besides, we can handle ourselves and six isn't _that_ big of a number."

Toboe looked up towards Tsume, tilting his head to the side curiously. "What do you think, Tsume?"

Tsume seemed to think for a few moments before a low rumble sounded from his chest, not quite a grunt and not quite a growl. "…Well, it's not like I'm jumping for joy at our choices here. But at least Atra has an idea of where we can stay for the night."

"Yeah, and a hotel bed sure has more perks than a dark alley." Hige laughed, immediately stopping and grinning apologetically when Kiba shot him a look.

Kuri looked at her sister pleadingly, the line of her mouth fixed in a worried frown. Atra glanced at her and smiled in reassurance before looking to the others. "Well then it's settled. We'll give this a try, and if we don't get enough money… or if something happens along the way," She glanced between Kiba and Kuri as if this should satisfy them, "We'll come back here and we'll sleep wherever we can manage."

"The rest of you can go ahead. I'll just stay here." Kiba said stiffly, rounding the corner at the entrance of an alley and leaning against the nearest building.

Kuri walked to stand at the opposite side of the alley. "Same here."

"I'm not surprised." Atra said, looking at Kuri with a defeated smile. "Fine. If anything happens, find a way to howl and give us a signal." She paused, "…Unless anyone else wants to stay back?"

Tsume, Hige and Toboe shook their heads. Toboe smiled brightly, "Nope, we're ready! …Why are you all looking at me like that?"

Atra looked pointedly at Kuri who immediately knelt down to be at Toboe's eye-level. "Maybe it's better you stay here, Toboe." Before she protested, Kuri added, "Kiba and I might need you if something hapens." Toboe frowned but nodded and moved to Kuri's side.

Hige stretched, "Alright. Time for some action. Lead the way, Atra."

"Right." Atra smiled before turning to the other half of the pack and performing a mock salute. "See you later, guys." And with that, the wolves disappeared into the crowd.

* * *

><p>Kuri frowned as she sat in the alley, her hands folded in her lap. It had been at least half an hour since Atra had left with the boys and since then not a single word had passed between the three that had been left behind. Toboe was still miffed at being held back, whereas Kiba was in his own world, simply staring out into the streets. Positive that neither one of them would notice nor care, Kuri sighed and turned her gaze to the ground.<p>

"Your sister can be trouble… can't she?" Kuri looked up at Kiba, tilting her head to the side. He wasn't even facing her and yet she was sure he had spoken. As if confirming that she'd heard him correctly, Kiba spoke again. "Risking ourselves like this isn't worth a hotel room."

Kuri laughed politely and shrugged, "She just gets excited in cities like this, humans and all. And when she gets excited she doesn't always consider the risks. But either way, she usually manages to keep out of messes, and if not, get out of them clean." She paused, "Besides. You can't tell me that you've never taken any risks either."

Kiba looked at her and smiled softly before looking back into the crowd. With a blink, that flicker of a smile had faded. "Your pack must have had a hard time keeping her in line."

Kuri snorted in amusement. "Yeah, a _bit_." Kiba looked to her. Kuri continued speaking while watching the passerby, missing the glint of amusement in his eyes at her words. "I wouldn't say she was a rebel. If you told her to do something, she'd do it. But sometimes she'd just run off. Sometimes for days at a time. It was nerve wracking."

"To cities?" Toboe asked, looking up at Kuri from his place at her side.

"Seemed like it." Kuri nodded. "She'd be gone for so long because our pack wasn't really _near_ any cities. There was a small town at the base of the mountain where our pack lived, but otherwise the bigger cities were at least half a day's journey away."

"No one tried to stop her?" Kiba asked.

"No one could." Kuri said with a small shrug. "I mean, she never intended to leave the pack for a place with the humans. It just seemed that… pack or city, one place to stay just wasn't enough for her."

The wolves fell quiet. Kuri looked across the alley to see Kiba's eyes focused on the ground in front of him, apparently deep in thought. She forced her gaze away to settle on the steady flow of humans walking past the alleyway once more. She marveled at the sheer amount of them all, amazed that the city could hold so many. But as the sky became tinged with the red of a sunset, the stream of humans began to dwindle to a trickle through the city streets.

She looked down at Toboe and shifted to wrap her arm around his sleeping form. He had fallen asleep long into the wait, his brow furrowed and lips protruding in a pout even in his sleep. She smiled. Then suddenly, there was a faint, clattering sound.

Kuri looked up to see Kiba staring out into the street, his fur standing on end. "…What's wrong?" Without answering her, he stood up to get a better look into the streets.

Then Kuri smelled it: a metallic, burning scent. Kiba didn't have to ask if she had noticed- the look of confusion and anxiety in her face was enough. But before either of them could say a word, a human ran into the street just as shaken up as they were. "Make way! Make way! Noble regiments passing through!"

The crowd cleared the street, a few humans even being pushed into alleys to make room. Kuri gently moved Toboe to lie on the cement and stood to take a look. As soon as she did, she gasped. "…Are they _human_?"

Giants of pitch black metal trudged through the streets, their armor glistening in the late afternoon sun. They held weapons in their hands, the metal encasing their bodies glinting with a deadly sheen. Kuri wondered how much blood their blades and armor had seen.

As the army made their way closer to them, Kiba walked to the back of the alley and jumped onto the rooftops. Kuri looked up in surprise, looking around frantically to make sure no one had noticed. Kiba called her name just loud enough for only her to hear and she turned towards him. When she turned to look at him, his face was stern, "Wake up Toboe and have him wait on this roof. Once that's done with, start looking for the others."

"And leave Toboe alone?"

Kiba took a breath, glancing at the soldiers to make sure none of them had noticed them. "Fine… Stay back and make sure we're the only ones to see you."

Kuri nodded and watched as Kiba ran off before gently waking Toboe up from his nap. As the pup opened his eyes, he murmured quietly, "Are they back yet?"

"No…" Kuri started, "But I sure hope they'll get here soon."

* * *

><p>Kiba jumped from roof to roof, keeping an eye on the ones below him. Once in a while a soldier would catch a glimpse of him and he'd have to dodge out of sight, scowling to himself all the while. He didn't have time for this.<p>

Finally, he saw Tsume slowly making his way to the back of an alley holding a rather fat wallet in his mouth. "Tsume." The wolf looked up and seeing the urgency in his eyes, turned to take a look towards where the soldiers were emerging. He leapt up to join Kiba, silently exchanging glances. Without a single word both the wolves turned to travel in opposite directions: Kiba further into the city, and Tsume towards where they'd begun.

Hige, on the other hand, was a little harder to find. Finally, Kiba spotted him in the crowd, attempting peer over the tops of human heads as they waited for the approaching troop. Bristling with annoyance, Kiba called him. "Hige." The wolf didn't respond and Kiba's expression hardened, "Hige."

Hige glanced behind him before turning back to the crowd. A moment later, he did a double take and began to past the humans between them. "Hey, Kiba. I thought you weren't coming along." Kiba glared at him, and immediately Hige began to squirm. "…What's wrong?"

"You've seen the soldiers, haven't you?"

"Yeah well…" Hige shrugged, "As long as we don't do anything to make them notice us we should be fine."

"You're _stealing _from the_ humans, _Hige."Kiba closed his eyes, taking a deep breath to calm himself before looking back at Hige. "Get back to the others. Just in case."

Hige raised an eyebrow, obviously not finding any retreat necessary. But eventually, he shrugged, "Whatever you say, buddy." He leapt up and started walking to the edge of the rooftop before turning on his heel to face Kiba. "Oh, hey. If you're looking for Atra, she said she was headed towards the bars."

"Why would she do that?" Kiba asked, his mind wandering to the bum that had seen them just this morning. Again Hige shrugged.

"Beats me. Apparently it's good money." Hige smiled, "Well, hey. At least we got something done today, right, Kiba?"

"…Right." Kiba said flatly. "Kuri and Tsume will be waiting for you." Hige nodded and walked off. Silently, Kiba turned on his heel and began to walk towards the oppressive scent of liquor on the other side of town.

* * *

><p>Atra smirked inwardly as she stalked the woman in front of her. Her target was in her mid-twenties to mid-thirties though she walked with the same cheeky, sway of the hips as any fresh-faced teen. Tousled hair, high heels, a skirt and top that were both easy to slip off… It was no wonder that the scent of men and sweat clung to every bit of her and her belongings. And though the smell of her and the thought of what she did made Atra sick, she knew none of it would matter as long as she got her hands on whatever profits this promiscuous target had made.<p>

A black sequined handbag dangled delicately from her target's hands, swinging from side to side with every step she took. From studying her for so long, Atra had finally deduced that the bag she'd been holding and the clothes she'd been wearing were far too impressive for the average tramp. That black sequined handbag most definitely held this woman's pay, and very likely, the bills it held would take a large chunk out of any hotel fee.

Perfect.

Atra began to tail her, making sure to duck from view whenever she turned out of suspicion. Then, slowly but surely, people who walked by got the impression that Atra was a tame, if not huge, pet of this troubled prostitute, perhaps a guard dog to protect her from the more violent men. And slowly, this troubled prostitute turned around more and more frequently.

Finally, just as a child slowly walked by, Atra lunged forward and started barking. The boy immediately started to scream and jump away, and all eyes were on her. His mother clutched her boy to her chest, exclaiming in horror, "Get your damn dog away from my son!"

The target nearly choked, "D-dog? Look, I don't know how you got this idea lady but this thing isn't my dog!" As she spoke, Atra stopped barking and turned to her, panting happily and wagging her tail as she moved closer to her beloved 'owner'. In return, the hooker pulled away. "She's not!"

The mother kept on yelling, pointing at Atra as she moved closer and closer to her 'owner.' The tramp kept on backing away, keeping herself calm until finally her slow steps away turned into skips, hops, then jumps. And finally, when Atra bounded up to lick her cheek, she broke out into a full on run.

Atra chased after her, weaving around couples and businessmen, and other girls just like the one she followed. The woman ran two blocks before running into a nearby alley and scrambling to crawl over the dumpsters onto a nearby fire escape. Ever persistent, Atra jumped and snapped her jaws below her. At long last, the woman did just what Atra had been waiting for. She lifted her purse and swung.

Barking with joy, Atra caught the purse in between her jaws and ran. Laughing to herself, she could hear the woman's furious shrieks and pants behind her as she tried to catch up. This time, _she_ was the pursuer.

After a period of time, Atra slowed into an alley and took on her human form. She panted as she sat down, her body turning to lead as the adrenaline faded from her system. Finally, she looked down at the bag sitting in her lap and started to laugh.

Inside the bag was, just as Atra had guessed, the woman's profit for the day (and from the looks of it, the past several nights). Looking at it, Atra couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. She'd been even more popular than Atra had expected. Atra shrugged to herself, resigning to the fact that she'd never understand human tastes. Zipping up the bag, she stood and shook her head, wiping her sleeve against her tongue. "Ugh. It was only her cheek but that shit tasted horrible."

"Excuse me, ma'am?"

Atra looked up, her heart skipping a beat. Two soldiers stood at the mouth of the alley, their weapons glistening in the light of the sunset. Atra studied them for a few seconds before smiling, making sure to keep her voice and body casual. "How can I help you officers?"

The soldiers approached her blocking her exit. The one at the left spoke, "There was a reported theft in the area. Do you know anything about it?"

"A theft?" Atra shook her head slightly, hoping that her expression looked confused rather than fearful. "I'm sorry, I can't say I do."

They exchanged glances. The other soldier shifted a little on his feet, "The object that was reported to be stolen was a handbag, black sequins, chain-link strap, and a black rabbit's foot keychain." Atra fought the urge to look down at the bag in her hands and check, but didn't need to. She knew she was already caught red handed. "The owner said it was taken by a huge gray dog…"

His companion stepped forward, his weapon slowly lifting in his hands. "So how exactly did you get a hold of it, huh, sweetheart?" Atra kept her eyes on the mass of metal in front of her, ignoring the spear slowly aiming itself at her heart. As the soldiers stared back at her behind those helmets, Atra couldn't help but feel something beyond what anxiety this situation warranted…

She couldn't see their expressions as they looked at her, yet something told her: they knew.

A flash of white came in between them, and Atra watched as the soldier was knocked back against the other. Their armor clattered against each other, the sound loud enough to stop passerby in their tracks. Before Atra could do anything else, she was being urged to jump to a nearby rooftop by her savior. They jumped several buildings away from their confrontation with the soldiers before Atra finally turned to see who was at her side.

"Kiba." She said in surprise, and as if she wasn't in shock already, she watched as Kiba's expression changed right before her eyes. His eyes narrowed, his lips pressed into a thin line, and finally he turned and thrust Atra away.

It wasn't so hard of a push that Atra was hurt, and she managed to keep herself from falling, but she couldn't help but stare at the boy in front of her. Kiba glared at her angrily, his chest rising and falling with deep breaths until finally his expression changed from one of fury to just one of forbidding.

"…Look, I didn't get hurt." Atra said, still a little shaken up.

"But you could have been." Kiba said with a familiar edge to his voice. It reminded Atra of the way he'd spoken to her in the graveyard, sharp and accusing. Unconsciously she backed away.

"But I _didn't_."

"What about the pack?" Kiba said sharply, "Do you even know if they're okay? You put every single one of them at risk—"

Atra's eyes widened in concern, "Are they—"

"They're fine." Kiba snapped. Atra let out a breath that she hadn't realized she was holding and wrapped her arms around herself. She could feel Kiba's eyes still on her, still cold and unforgiving. "This was dangerous from the start." Kiba stated firmly, his voice raising just enough to get the message across.

"I've done this before." Atra protested.

"You let yourself get caught. By _soldiers_-"

Atra scoffed, stammering as she found the words, "I didn't even know they were _here_."

Finally, Kiba raised his voice, "How can you even think of leaving this pack when you can't even take care of yourself?" Atra fell silent, not being able to do anything else but glare at him. Kiba stared back at her until something inside of him broke. He turned away, taking a deep breath to compose himself.

The next time he spoke to her, his voice was calm, but stern as ever. "You could have gotten hurt. The _pack_ could have been hurt." Kiba turned around and ran a hand through his hair, closing his eyes. "…For all I know they could have seen us while I was helping you escape… Damn it."

Atra watched him standing there, shocked and confused. Until finally, she said timidly, "I'm sorry."

Kiba shook his head, his voice soft as he spoke to her again. "Let's just head back."

* * *

><p>"Oh my god, you did <em>what<em>?" Kuri shrieked. When Atra looked up at her sheepishly from the bed, Kuri stomped. "I knew it! I told you that you shouldn't do this, I _told_ you! You could have died, Atra! Can you get that through your thick skull?" When Atra didn't reply, Kuri jumped onto the bed and hammered her fist onto her head, "Are you listening to me?"

"Ow!" Atra pushed her sister flat onto the bed, "First of all, you're hurting me more than those soldiers did. Secondly, you're going to wake Toboe. And finally; would you be sleeping in a bed if I hadn't done what I did?"

In all reality, the hotel was average at best. But the fact that Kiba had allowed them to stay in one at all, especially after Atra's encounter with the soldiers, was a miracle all on its own. But since he and Atra (and now Kuri) were the only ones who knew about it, they couldn't stop the others from insisting on sleeping over a pillow and under a roof. So Atra checked in using all the money they had 'earned' throughout the day, winning them two small rooms with two beds in each (the 'men' in one, and the 'women and children' in the other) while Kiba stood on the side, his expression amazingly colder than usual.

"Like I care about the bed!" Kuri shouted. Atra hissed, jabbing a finger at Toboe's sleeping form and Kuri quieted down. "We're _wolves_ Atra; we live in the 'wild'. We're meant to sleep under trees and in caves and self-made _dens_—"

"Just because we're not human doesn't mean we can't treat ourselves." Atra interjected.

Kuri scowled, "You're such a city pup." Atra laughed quietly and fell back against the pillows. Kuri watched her and frowned. "…I thought something was wrong when you guys came back. I'm pretty sure everyone could see it."

Atra frowned. "You think?"

Kuri nodded, "You looked all uncomfortable, like you were unsure of yourself. I thought you didn't get as much money as you wanted to, like you messed up somehow, but I didn't imagine it was _that _bad."

"Hey." Atra pouted.

"Well it's _true_." Kuri retorted. "We're just lucky that we found this pack. Can you imagine where we'd be now if we hadn't?"

Atra didn't reply. She turned her gaze to a blank spot on the wall, her eyes boring into the peeling paint before she let out a sudden groan, "What are we _doing_ here, Kuri? With these wolves? With this… quest for Paradise?"

Kuri looked at her before saying quietly, "You used to like those stories."

Her sister looked at her with an odd expression, as if she was bothered by the gentle reminder. She took a breath before shaking her head. "I liked those _stories_ when they were _just_ stories."

"You never wanted them to be anything more?" Kuri asked curiously, her voice still low, cautious.

There was a beat of silence as Atra considered her words and Kuri waited for her reply. Then, a rustle of fur and sheets as Atra nestled her head on her paws. "We should get to sleep."

Kuri frowned at her sister's back before sighing and getting comfortable on the hotel bed herself. "Whatever you say. But for the record: no matter how crazy this is, I think we can trust Kiba."

Her ears were met with silence once more. Then, just as Kuri was drifting on the edge of sleep, she could have sworn she heard her sister's softly murmur into the room. "Me too."

* * *

><p>"Master." A servant walked into the dank room, her walk steady and posture impeccable. As if to match with the atmosphere inside, her expression was somber. She walked within a few yards of her master before stopping. "Report."<p>

Her master didn't turn to face her, pausing before even gracing her with a reply. "…What is it?"

"Two soldiers got attacked while passing through Amber City." The servant stated, "They were aiding a young woman whose purse was taken away by a giant dog."

It was then the servant stopped, as if hesitant to continue on. As if even she didn't understand the script that was written for her. "…And?" Her master turned to her, a new kind of interest glinting in those eyes.

"One soldier reports that they found the purse in the possession of a young woman. Upon confrontation, his partner was pushed against him by an unseen force and the young woman was nowhere to be found." She paused.

"…You're testing my patience." Her master warned, though the tone he used was completely normal. "If there's more to your little report, I suggest you say it. If not, get out."

Surprised, the servant bowed her head in apology. "No, Master, there's more. Although the soldier reported as I told you, his partner stated that when he approached the perpetrator, another dog appeared… from the skies." He looked at his Master's expression to check his reaction, but somehow there was none. "He says that the dog tackled him against his partner. B-But as he was falling, he says that he saw the same young woman and a young man pulling her back up into the sky… Neither of the dogs were found."

They were both silent, thinking over what they had just heard. Finally, the master turned back to his task while saying, "I'd like to look further into this case, if you don't mind…"

"Shall I inquire after the soldiers, sir?"

"Actually…" Her master began, lifting his head to look up towards a nearby window. "I'd prefer you inquire after the dogs."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> So sorry that this chapter got posted late! I'm having a blast in college so far, and this past week of orientation has been nothing but being kept busy and staying up until the late hours of the night/early hours of the morning. But, here is the fifth chapter as promised. Hope you guys have a great two weeks!

**_Shades-Soul_: **Sorry if that wasn't clear. They were staring at her because she wasn't moving up to get her share of the kill. As for the first half of your review: who knows, maybe someone in the pack will be able to convince Atra to stay for good. :]

**_FlamingIceWolfGirl_:** I agree on how hard it is to find good _Wolf's Rain_ fics. Part of that, I think, is due to the fact that the series is so difficult to write a good fic _on_. But I'm glad to hear that you think my fic is one of the good ones! Thanks!

**_Ashlight-11_:** Don't worry about the typo slip, it happens to the best of us! And thanks for your comments on the development of Kiba and Atra's relationship. Personally, I love when two parties of a relationship can challenge the other person while still respecting them. For reference though, slap-slap-kiss relationships (ex: Inuyasha and Kagome, and pretty much any Rumiko Takahashi couple) are too over the top for me to see a real relationship blossoming out of. I'm trying to find a good middle ground. :]

Also, although there was a lot going on this week, I definitely did not forget about all of you and this fic. And I'm definitely not planning to!


	6. Chapter 6

**Light Embracing Darkness: Chapter Six**

_The Countess D_

* * *

><p>There were sounds; sounds no one should ever be forced to describe. Atra trembled in her sleep, her ears flattening against her skull in a feeble attempt to block the roars, the cries, the <em>howls<em> that could only come from wolves that had lost all hope. But no matter what she did, they resonated in her mind, strong, loud, and clear.

Of course she knew that this all wasn't real. And whilst she should be grateful for it, she loathed it instead. To lose everything in a night was one thing, but to relive it every night afterwards was another. And as everything replayed in her mind's eye night after night, Atra felt that she would rather be with those pained wolves instead. Their agony, at least, had only been temporary.

She could hear their screams, ones that made her fur bristle and heart ache in the depths of her chest. "Atra! …Atra, please!"

The sounds of paws scrambling against dirt, those sounds of battle, those sounds of metal hitting flesh and bone… And the simple calls of help from the ones she loved most. "Atra, please… don't… don't leave me here…"

"Atra…"

"…Atra."

"Atra." This time the voice was calm. Not a cry for help, but simply a name; her name.

Nightmare cut short, Atra was now wide awake and still trembling on what she thought was the bed. But after a few moments of pulling herself together, she opened her eyes and instead saw the beige carpeting of the hotel room instead.

The voice called again, a bit more worried this time. "Atra…?" Atra looked up and saw Kiba looking at her curiously as he crouched over her form. "Are you alright?"

Closing her eyes once more, Atra took a few deep breaths before lifting herself into a sitting position and leaning against the bed. "…Yeah." She opened her eyes, "Yeah, I'm… I'm fine. A bad dream, that's all."

Obviously not satisfied with her answer, Kiba got up and sat on Toboe's bed, scrutinizing her as she began to groom herself, running her fingers through her hair and attempting to play off the sorry state the white wolf had found her in. As she did so, she attempted casual conversation, knowing that the real reason Kiba came here would be brought up soon enough. "What time is it?"

"…Early. There was a fight outside of the hotel that woke me up."

Atra dropped her hands, content with her appearance before raising an eyebrow. Although still tired, she managed a teasing tone as she said, "So you decided to come to the girl's room? I didn't know you had it in you."

Kiba was silent, and the pause he took seemed somewhat reluctant. Finally, he murmured quietly, "It was about you."

Atra immediately perked up, her back straightening and eyes widening up at him. "What do you mean?"

Gauging her reaction and noting her concern, Kiba further explained. "From what I heard, the soldiers have received orders to further investigate our appearances yesterday. They're looking for two large-sized dogs, a black female and a white male. What's a little more disturbing is that they're looking for their owners as well."

"…Owners…" Atra echoed, her brow already furrowing in thought.

"A boy and girl in their late teens… Caucasian male, brown hair, looked about five-eleven to six feet… accompanied by a possibly Hispanic girl, black hair, around five-two to five-four. Chances are they're in possession of stolen goods as well." The whole time Atra stared at him, processing all of this information before Kiba finished with a wry smile. "I think they're onto us."

In normal circumstances, Atra would want to slap him for that last remark, but in this case, she'd let it pass. "…Did anyone else wake up?" He shook his head, "So what are we going to do?"

"Well we can't exactly leave now." Kiba said in a bit of a sigh, "They're already patrolling the city. We wouldn't be able to make it out without being noticed."

Atra pursed her lips and glanced to the sleeping forms of Kuri and Toboe before getting up and going towards the window. Kiba watched her as she looked outside, waiting. "…The rest of the pack wouldn't be noticed. _We_ would." Atra faced him, "We could split up."

"The reason we're in this mess is because we split up in the first place." Kiba replied dryly, watching as Atra's eyes narrowed. "How would we explain it to the others? No one else knows about it, they wouldn't see the point."

"Kuri knows." She gestured towards her sister, still sleeping peacefully on the bed. "She knows how to check out. As for the pack seeing the point, we still need to get rid of those bags and wallets we stole. We could tell them we're discarding them and that we'll meet them at the city exit by sunset."

This time when Atra looked back at Kiba, his expression was serious, as if he really was giving her plan some consideration. "How would we discard them?"

"We tear them apart." Atra replied simply. "Shred them to pieces and leave them in a place that's hard to reach and where the wind will scatter them. Chances are they won't be traced easily. And if they are, we'll be long gone by then."

Kiba stared at her long and hard, mentally critiquing every aspect of the plan she had presented to him. Finally, he said, "I'll have to go with you."

Surprised and somewhat insulted, Atra hissed. "Why?"

"You're not familiar with soldiers. You don't know how their technology works. And you've caused enough trouble when you were left alone as it is." Atra flinched at the statement, and Kiba's eyes quickly flickered over her as she did. "Wake up Kuri and tell her what we're going to do. I'll wake up Tsume and Hige in the next room."

He lifted himself off the bed and started walking towards the door, drawing Atra's eyes to him as he did so. "…We're leaving already?"

Kiba paused, "I'd like to get out of this city as soon as possible." Atra didn't reply, but there was a kind of disappointment in her silence. Showing no sign of noticing this, Kiba opened the door and left.

* * *

><p>"So what did they say?" Toboe asked as he quickened his pace to keep up with the other wolves. When none of the others said a reply, he added, "I wasn't that awake to hear them."<p>

"Well then you should have woken up earlier." Hige sneered, barely paying Toboe a glance. "You know how ornery Kiba gets about traveling, especially with all these wannabe nobles creeping around the city. I'd think you'd get used to sacrificing your beauty sleep by now."

"It's not like you were so prompt yourself, porky." Tsume scowled, looking at Hige with as much annoyance as he had addressed Toboe with. "If anyone else but us saw you in the hotel room, they'd think you were dead."

Hige blinked before spitting back defensively, "Hey, after all that running we've done, I'm entitled to some rest."

"Which means that you shouldn't blame Toboe for it either. We're all just as tired as he was." Kuri said her voice the gentlest so far. But while gentle, her tone was firm and disapproving, like a mother on the edge of scolding her child. "Leave him alone. Besides, you don't know what Kiba said either." Hige looked at her, about to reply before she cut in with the same even voice, "You and Tsume were still sleeping at the time."

Hige stared at her, as if this information was all new to him, before finally turning back with a trace of defeat in his expression. Tsume paused a beat, a thought occurring, before turning to Kuri. "Why would they only speak with you?"

Kuri shrugged, her eyes turning to the ground. Tsume's eyes were steady on her, but only for a few seconds before he turned away again. "…Something's up." There was a small change in Kuri's expression but not by much. "You're on edge today. You're not even close to hiding it."

Hige turned then, as if this was a phenomenon he needed to see himself, to verify with his own two eyes. "…So what did they say to you?"

"Simple things. The normal routine whenever Atra plays pickpocket in the city." Kuri explained, looking up at Hige, if only to avoid Tsume. "They needed to shred the handbags and wallets throughout the city. They were the only ones up, and it doesn't take more than two to do the job, so they decided they'd do it without us. They should be meeting up with us by sunset."

Hige cocked an eyebrow before turning back to the pavement in front of him with a smirk Kuri was beginning to know well. "Well if you ask me, something's up, but probably not the something Tsume was thinking."

Tsume seemed to consider what Hige meant for a few moments before bristling in what seemed to be a mix of disbelief and disgust. Toboe blinked and looked up at Kuri, who's abnormally somber expression had turned to one of amusement. "What does he mean, Kuri?"

She didn't even get a chance to answer before Tsume moved to take a hit at Hige, "Grow up, will you?" Hige grinned as he ducked below his fist, seemingly proud of how easily he'd provoked the gray wolf.

Kuri laughed quietly as Toboe looked on in confusion. "Admittedly, the idea's already crossed my mind too."

"See, Kuri's with me on this one." Hige said smugly.

"Yeah right." Tsume muttered to himself in his same gruff tone, "Like anyone would settle for someone that damn stubborn."

Then, as if on cue, Kuri and Hige spoke in unison. "Speak for yourself." Tsume shot them a dark look, one that Kuri ignored and Hige took in stride. Used to the heated glares, Hige continued speaking. "Besides, this is Kiba we're talking about. It's not like he's ace material either."

Kuri scoffed loudly, "None of you are." The older males looked at her in surprise, this being the boldest statement they had heard her say so far. "Give Toboe a few more years and he'll be more competition than either of you will be able to handle."

Toboe immediately straightened, surprised at first but then breaking out into an open-mouthed grin. "You really think so Kuri?"

"I know so." Kuri laughed brightly, nuzzling Toboe affectionately then looking up to see the Tsume and Hige's demanding expressions. "Tsume's too rough and incapable of tenderness in any way whatsoever, Hige's _too_ capable, and Kiba's just too hard to connect with. Besides, this pack is so... stray. No order, no rankings. If nothing had changed, I never would have considered being with a wolf like the ones here, let alone traveling with them to Paradise." The concept of it all was so ridiculously simple and even Toboe's bright mood was dimmed a little, and apologetically, Kuri smiled at him.

During her whole explanation, Tsume had been growling, his anger bubbling beneath the surface. But when he finally spoke, it was his normal tone of voice. Even, slightly sarcastic and annoyed, the only difference between that and his angry tone of voice, of course, being the fact that when he was angry his voice was raised. "Then why are you here?"

Kuri thought about this, her smile faded on her lips. Staring at the pavement as she walked, she shook her head and replied, "Things changed."

* * *

><p>Atra stared out at the rooftops around her, relishing the feeling of being so high above the others. Ever since she was a pup, her eyes drank in the view of the world around her. Her ears, the sound. To her, it was appreciating the wonder life offered. To her pack, at least the pack she had then, it was a waste of time. Then again, in her pack, so was everything else that wasn't related to fearing for your life.<p>

Maybe they were on to something. After all, they'd been right to worry, in the end.

"…have to stay out of sight to stay safe." Kiba recounted behind her, his last few words fading in just as Atra reemerged from her reverie. Kiba turned to face her and paused, watching as her head lifted slowly, her eyes becoming clearer, more present. "…Atra?"

Atra looked at him, shifting her weight uneasily. "…I'm sorry… what?"

Kiba looked at her critically before repeating himself. "We'll need to go scatter these last few pieces over the city just to throw them off our trail." Atra nodded to reassure him that she was still listening, and in turn he didn't stop. "Then by noon we can head back while keeping out of sight."

"Right."

Then, as if waiting to see who would make the first move, they stared at each other down. "But first," Kiba started as he turned his body to fully face hers, "What are you thinking about?"

Stunned, Atra stayed silent as Kiba waited for an answer. Kiba sighed and moved to sit on the roof top, another move that surprised her. "It's dangerous to try to do something like this when you're distracted. And you've been unsettled ever since this morning."

Still a little dazed, Atra reluctantly joined him in sitting on the roof before saying weakly, "That bad?" When he nodded back, Atra winced and acquired a newfound interest in the color of her hands and feet. Kiba waited.

"I guess I'm just getting adjusted… Being around you guys have kicked up a few things that are pretty unnecessary." Atra said softly, lifting her head and shaking it, as if that would help any. "Then there's the fact that I'll need to find a new place to stay, and all these ideas of Paradise that are running through my head…"

"Ideas." Kiba echoed. Still sensing some tension on the subject, Atra kept quiet. "That's really the only reason you want to leave, isn't it?"

"I'd rather adapt to hell…" Atra began, turning her head to avoid his eyes, "Than spend my life searching for a Paradise that doesn't even exist."

"You're not a wolf if you don't try."

Atra looked at him and smiled sadly. "I was never much of a wolf anyway."

His lips thinned, and Kiba nodded before getting up, stretching his limbs before turning to face her again, his expression understanding, open. "So how do you plan to adapt in a world like this?"

Following suit, Atra stood beside him before shaking her head clear. "I'll figure it out as I go along." She paused and smiled at him, "Just like you're doing." Surprisingly, Kiba smiled back. And just like that, their heart-to-heart was done, and the only sound in their ears was the sound of the wind, and buildings, flying past.

* * *

><p>"Well I say we go get something to eat." Hige insisted stubbornly.<p>

"Of course _you_ do, Hige." Kuri said, rolling her eyes as she held back a smile.

Walking slowly through the crowds all day, the pack wasn't far from the city exit and Kuri was trying to stall for time. It wouldn't be much fun waiting for Kiba and Atra to return for the next few hours, and so Kuri had requested something to do besides walk around the city.

Of course, Hige requested sustenance, or in his words, a hot dog, while Tsume suggested they try to weasel some information out of soldiers and anyone who had associated with them. But despite all Kuri's teasing towards Hige's insatiable appetite, it seemed that the boys knew Tsume's suggestion had made her uneasy. Lunch was by far the safer choice over espionage.

"But we don't have any money." Toboe said worriedly.

"You disappoint me, kid." Hige sighed dramatically, his palm smacking against his forehead. "I mean really, after all these weeks you'd think that you'd know me!"

Toboe made a queer expression, obviously urging Hige to get to the point. But instead of explaining things, Hige sighed with a flourish, gesturing in a direction that apparently led to food. "I'll be back in a few moments."

"I better go with you." Tsume grumbled, barking at Kuri and Toboe, "Stay here."

"Hmph." Irritated, but powerless to do anything, Kuri pulled Toboe off to the side just like the first day they had arrived there. As they sat down, she closed here eyes, only able to see the back of Tsume walking away. "…How can you stand it?"

Toboe looked at her in his simple, innocent way. "What do you mean?"

"Being around him for so long." Kuri's face turned pinched as she imagined it, "Dealing with his attitude, the way he talks to you, everything about him… It's so rotten."

From the dumbfounded look on Toboe's face, it seemed that the pup hadn't even considered this. Eventually, he shrugged, "I hadn't noticed, really." Kuri cocked a brow and he smiled, "I mean. Sure he's rough and all but… everyone has a soft side right?"

"So it took a doe's hoof to find it?" Kuri muttered, her cheek resting in the palm of her hand, bored. Toboe laughed quietly and she smiled, marveling in this boy's simplicity. It was so rare and in a world like this, rather unnerving.

"I always thought it was Paradise…" Toboe said as his laughter was replaced by a dreamy smile. "I mean, that's the only reason he could have joined us in the first place… He and Kiba didn't get along very well, but after some talking to, he ended up following us anyway. Besides, isn't Paradise every wolf's soft spot?"

Kuri nodded slowly, smiling herself now. "Yeah… I guess so, huh?"

Toboe's smile grew brighter, as if proud that Kuri had agreed to anything he said at all. "Then, maybe… there's us."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean… Well." Toboe paused and his smile faded once more to a bit of a frown. "…When we found him, Tsume just seemed so lonely. He acts like he doesn't care, but I really think he does… I should know, I pretty much felt the same way when we ran into each other. Maybe that's why we clicked so well."

So far, Kuri had failed to see Tsume clicking with any member of the pack at all. But she did notice a kind of warmth that overcame him whenever Toboe came into the picture. Then again, Toboe brought a kind of warmth to everybody within the pack. But instead of pointing this out, she said, "So deep down Tsume just wants some friends, huh…?"

"Yeah… I guess so." Toboe shrugged.

Kuri imagined it, Tsume pining for some kind of lupine contact as he wandered a dark city's streets. In an odd, unfamiliar way, it seemed to fit. But actually assuming that this image in her mind's eye was the real Tsume was a task too big to tackle in the time it took Hige to snatch away some hot dogs. "Toboe." Kuri said gently, smiling when Toboe looked her way, "One of these days, will you tell me how you four met?"

And in a blink, Toboe smiled one last bright smile, nodding enthusiastically. Kuri couldn't help but imagine what kind of mind this pup had, couldn't help but envy it. But in that moment, that one smile, she decided that Paradise or no Paradise, she would protect him. After all, without pups like him, the world would be too dark to handle.

"Excuse me… miss?" A shadow fell across the two wolves suddenly, and all the warmth of their conversation was sapped away.

When Kuri looked up, black was all she saw. The soldier's armor seemed to be put together, piece-by-piece from the gloomy color to instill a sense of fear, of weakness from whoever caught sight of it. Kuri now could vouch easily that it worked. "Could I help you?" As she moved to stand, she suddenly felt a cold metal at her throat and froze.

"Very much so, ma'am." Slowly lowering herself back into sitting on the pavement, Kuri swore that behind that midnight-tinted helmet, this soldier was grinning. "If you could just answer a few questions…"

* * *

><p>Catching a couple of familiar scents, Kiba and Atra skidded to a stop over the local marketplace and looked over the edge. Beneath them, they saw Hige casually passing through the street, snatching food at every possible opportunity. Tsume, bad-tempered and tired, was following not too far behind him.<p>

Atra leaned a little over the edge, hissing to him, "Tsume… Tsume!" Her calls went unnoticed, and somewhat bothered by this, she leaned over further. "Tsume!" This time, she nearly toppled over in the process, only to feel Kiba grabbing at her to pull her back up.

She exchanged a glance with him, embarrassed as Kiba shook his head and looked back towards Tsume, who was now staring straight at them. "…Do you think it's safe to go down?"

Kiba looked around, observing the surroundings before nodding. "Doesn't smell like any soldiers have been through here. And we should be able to blend in with the crowd if anything happens."

"Right." Atra said as she prepared to jump.

Kiba looked at her, "Do you need some help getting down?"

"No, I'm fi-…" Atra shot him a look as he smiled teasingly back at her before leaping down himself. She soon followed him, landing only a few yard's away. "You know, normally I'm not that clumsy."

"I'm sure." He said with the smile still fixed on his face as they walked towards Tsume. By then his face had resumed its normal state, stony, set for business. "Where's Kuri and Toboe?"

"We left them waiting down the road." Tsume replied, "We thought you two wouldn't be back for a couple of hours so we decided to take a break and get some lunch."

Then, as if signaled by the very word, Hige returned with food in his arms. It wasn't exactly a mother load, but it was definitely enough to feed six hungry wolves. Atra would never know how he did it. "Hey Kiba, Atra." He smiled broadly, "You guys ready to head back?"

"Absolutely." Atra smiled, glad that this predicament was finally over. Until, of course, a familiar russet pup burst through the crowd. Atra looked at him, "Toboe?"

Toboe was doubled over in front of them, panting as if he had just had an incredible rush. But when he looked up, instead of excitement, Atra saw fear. "Kuri. She's in trouble… big trouble."

Atra felt her chest tighten, and almost simultaneously, an unfamiliar weight on her shoulder. She looked to the side and saw Kiba's hand sitting there, to comfort her or hold her back, she couldn't tell. But instead of speaking to her, he addressed Toboe, "What kind of trouble?"

"A soldier came up and started saying that they needed to ask us about a thievery yesterday. They think Kuri was a part of it!" Toboe spat out worriedly, "Last I saw they were trying to take her away! We have to help her!"

And just as like when Hige had been captured, the boys began to talk, planning their next move. But instead of hearing their conversation, so crisp and clear, the sounds slowly blurred, muddled and piled over one another into a deafening noise, and one she couldn't bear to listen to. A waste of time.

But then, over the cacophony, she heard one familiar call.

_Atra… Atra, please!_

So finally, unable to stand the weight on her shoulder, the pointless rubbish floating through her ear, Atra decided she could only do one thing to make it to her sister in time.

She ran.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Sorry for another late update! Hope that this lets everyone know that I have, in fact, _not_ forgotten about this lovely fic. In fact, I'm ahead at least another nine chapters on this bad boy. So although my updates may be running late, let it be known that it _will_ be updated! Have a great couple of weeks, guys!

**_alicelouise'x_: **Thanks for the compliments! I've tried really hard to make this a good story, and I feel with an OC pairing, that's even harder to do because OC fics tend to lean more towards the lower end of the quality spectrum. I hope the rest of the fic doesn't disappoint!


	7. Chapter 7

**Light Embracing Darkness: Chapter Seven**

_Countess D_

* * *

><p>Kuri took a deep breath, willing her body to stop shaking as she considered the situation she was in. Two soldiers stood on either side of the alley's entrance, watching her carefully. While they were docile now, she knew that one wrong move would give them an excuse to put those weapons of theirs to use.<p>

Pulling her eyes away from them and straightening her back, Kuri looked into the eyes of the crowd across from her. Humans had lined up on the other end of the street, their expressions excited, horrified, and somehow… greedy. Whether they were greedy for another reason to hate the soldiers, or just greedy for more bloodshed, Kuri wasn't sure. She just didn't want a chance to find out.

Kuri thought back to ten minutes ago when the soldiers had first appeared. They had drilled her with questions on why she and Toboe were in the city, if they had any possessions with them, and once Kuri had answered everything she realized just what they saw in her. 'A possibly Hispanic girl, black hair, around five-two to five-four…'

"There was a theft downtown yesterday afternoon. Have you two heard of it?" The soldier asked casually. Toboe had slowly shaken his head, gripping his wrists to keep his hands from shaking. Kuri wished she could hide her fear just as easily. "Well, we've been asked to conduct a special investigation into the matter. So what about you, sweetheart? Got anything to say about it?"

She imagined his expression inside the helmet, his mouth cracked into a wide-toothed grin. He thought he'd won. But if anyone would be released, it would be Toboe. It had to be. Opening her mouth to reply, Kuri's voice cracked as she said quietly, "He doesn't fit what you're looking for."

Toboe turned and stared, surprised. The soldier, though Kuri couldn't be sure, seemed pleased. "…Really now?"

"This is just my half-brother. He's fourteen… still young. He wouldn't be much help when you're trying to pull off a theft. You're looking for a boy in his late teens." Kuri began, her voice getting stronger bit by bit. "Around six feet, right? Owns a white dog."

After a long silence, he nodded. Toboe blinked, and he spoke, his voice trembling. "What are you talking about, Kuri?"

Kuri didn't look at him, instead looking back into the black glass that hid the soldier's eyes. When she spoke again, her voice faltered, "I-…I know where he is. Let my brother go, and I promise you. You'll find him."

"And the dogs?" The soldier asked.

"And the dogs." Kuri replied, watching as he seemed to slip into deep thought.

Heart pounding in her chest, Kuri closed her eyes tightly and focused on staying human. If she got too flustered, who knew whether the soldiers would be able to see past her human façade. So she began to count her heartbeats, reaching ten before the soldier said calmly, "Get out of here, kid." The only sound that followed was Toboe scampering out of the alley.

They had struck a deal then. Only one soldier would directly escort her to the station, no handcuffs involved. Though skeptical, the soldier had miraculously agreed when Kuri pointed out that without these agreements, Kiba wouldn't appear. But he had a few improvisations of his own.

She could smell soldiers around every corner. Yes, there were only two bringing her to the station, but she knew that there were many others watching them as they did. Still, there was a sense of pride within her that she oddly couldn't set aside. Something told her the pack would be able to handle it. Within a few moments, she was proven right.

* * *

><p>Atra sped towards their backs, tearing through the crowds of people and lunging towards the soldier on her left. Shocked, he fell easily, breaking his helmet against the pavement and knocking his weapon from his hand. As she heard the crack of glass against stone, Kuri turned to the left and clamped her jaws firmly on his shoulder, pushing him down. The soldier screamed beneath her, struggling for a few moments before successfully throwing her aside.<p>

Kuri skidded along the sidewalk, hissing under her breath and trying to hear anything but the screams from the citizens of the city around her. It was chaos; after all, at least a dozen of them had just seen a perfectly normal teenage girl transform into a monster right before their eyes, and with the rest of the soldiers making their appearance from dark corners, things would just get messier as it went along.

"Kuri!" Atra called as a gunshot rang out, jumping out of the way. Kuri yelped in surprise, moving in the opposite direction and taking a mere second to figure out just where the bullets had come from. Then, within a fraction of a second, she realized that she was looking into a distant barrel of a gun.

"Damn it!" A mass of gray hit her, pushing her out of the way just as it was fired. This being the second time Kuri was thrown back against stone, it took her a few moments to snap out of her dazed confusion and look up to see Tsume crouched above her. "Pay attention!"

After a moment, Kuri scowled in defiance and pushed him off. "Get off me first!" Another shot fired towards them and instinctively Kuri rolled to the side. She could hear Tsume start to speak nearby, his voice urgent. Though the question didn't quite process in her mind, she heard herself replying, "Seven maybe? Including the escorts. I think they expected something like this to happen."

"Sounds like a party." Tsume said smirking as a blade appeared in his hand. The next Kuri saw of him was his leaping at the nearest soldier and trying to break through his armor. It took him a matter of moments to do just that and finish the human with obvious expertise.

Everything was a whirl around them, and although Kuri had been to hunts before, had _loved_ the adrenaline it spurred in her veins, she realized that this was on an entirely different level. All this time she had been getting a high off of being the hunter, but she had never imagined that she'd get this much of a thrill while being the hunted.

A clatter of armor sounded behind her as Hige soared overhead, his arm outstretched with something unfamiliar in hand. Kuri jumped to watch him, startled, only to see that a soldier had been slowly approaching her all along. Hige struggled on top of the soldier for a few minutes before jumping off, revealing a mess of green, red and yellow smeared over the black glass of his helmet. "Come on Kuri, we have to go before the crowds start to die down!"

He grabbed at her wrist, tugging at her to get her up. Kuri obliged, but her eyes stayed on the soldier as he started wiping the mess off, apparently as disgusted as she was. "Hige, what _is_ that?"

"Let's just say I didn't want that hot dog as much as I thought I did." Hige said with a quiet chuckle.

She looked at him dumbly, "What?"

"Just come on!" Hige and Kuri broke into a full blown run into the hordes of humans trying themselves to get away, ignoring the screams as they cleared a path for them to run past.

Atra looked up at the noise, and upon seeing her sister and Hige running away, felt something brush against her side. A low voice sounded beside her as it did, so quiet and even that Atra would have thought it was a whisper of wind if it hadn't been so familiar. "Hurry."

Just like that, Kiba was yards ahead of her within a few strides. Looking past him, Atra could even see Tsume and Toboe running away side by side. She was the only one left, and the idea of greeting the next round of soldiers presented itself to her as highly unsatisfactory.

Then, just as she started to break into a run, Atra felt it: the slow, creeping sensation of being watched. She paused to look about her, searching for the eyes that were making goose bumps creep up her spine. But all she saw were masses of armor strewn throughout the street, and people scrambling to get further away from them.

Pushing the thought to the back of her mind, she shook her head and started after them. After all, she had a feeling she had bigger things to deal with than an unseen spectator.

* * *

><p>It was dark when they finally stopped running. None of them had been counting the hours since they had raced from the city exit, and none of them had cared to check the distance that they'd put in between them and the soldiers that were supposedly chasing after them. All any of them cared about was surviving long enough to live another day, and even with their aching limbs and half-lidded eyes, they'd run until they collapsed to make sure they would.<p>

As if to prove that very point, Hige was the first to stop, his body collapsing in the snow and a loud whoosh of breath escaping him in a bit of a snore before he even hit the ground. Kuri, too shaken to laugh, lay down nearby with Toboe soon after, glancing at Hige and rolling his eyes at his idiocy before laying her head down on her paws. The pup beside her, she noted, had fallen asleep just as fast.

Kuri smiled and closed her eyes, burying herself in the snow and feeling her heart finally slowing as the adrenaline seeped out of her bloodstream. Weariness replaced it, spreading throughout her very being, until only one speck of awareness was left at the back of Kuri's mind. But just before she allowed herself to surrender it, she opened her eyes to see a very awake, very _angry_ wolf staring down at her.

"What the hell did you do?" Tsume snarled lowly, his yellow eyes glinting dangerously in the moonlight. Kuri could see the snarl on his lips, the tension in his posture, and the threat in his disposition he would readily follow up on.

Kuri blinked and slowly began to stand, her legs turning to lead as soon as they realized they were already being put back to use. "What are you talking about?"

"You did something back there that made those soldiers want to _kill_ us. What was it?" Tsume demanded, his body towering over hers. Instinctively, Kuri retreated back a step, too confused to find an answer. "Well?"

"Leave her alone, Tsume." Kiba said quietly as he approached, "You weren't at all upset when you were fighting."

"We shouldn't have been fighting at all!" Tsume yelled sharply. Kuri flinched at the sound, her ears flattening against her head. But Kiba didn't budge an inch, either already used to it or simply indifferent. "Whatever she did back there could have killed us. It was _stupid_. Why should we have to baby sit someone who would endanger us like that?"

"Tsume." Kiba said warningly, an edge now evident in his voice. But in his tone was a layer of acknowledgement, as if he knew what Tsume was saying and had an idea of what he would start picking at next. If Atra were here, Kuri mused, she'd probably be having a sense of déjà vu as well.

Then, as if on cue, Atra's voice rang out shyly behind him. "It's not her fault." Both Tsume and Kiba turned to her, their eyes picking out her form in the shadows. "It's mine."

Immediately Tsume began to growl, but if Atra noticed Kuri couldn't tell. If anything, Atra seemed completely oblivious as she started explaining. "Yesterday when we were… collecting funds to stay at the hotel, I ran into a couple of soldiers… Kiba ended up saving me before it was too late, and when he did I guess they saw more than they should have." Tsume's growl was louder now, and for a moment her voice faltered. "The… The only reason they went after Kuri today was because she fit my description-"

"Description?" Tsume hissed at her before looking at Kiba, "You bastard… You knew about this?" In response, Kiba moved in front of Atra, completely blocking her from Tsume's view. Kuri, forgotten behind him, watched in horror as Tsume roared loudly in reply.

"We could have gotten _killed_," Tsume growled at him, his hackles raised. "And you're _protecting_ her?"

"She didn't know this would happen." Kiba said firmly, protectively. "Neither of them did."

"That's not an excuse!" Tsume barked, his body tense as if he was prepared to lash out at him at any given moment. "If they can't understand how to keep our asses safe, then they shouldn't be here."

Kiba scoffed, looking at Tsume skeptically. "And since when are you the one who makes those decisions?"

"Since you got too damn soft to think straight." Tsume growled back, his eyes glaring into his.

Kiba snarled loudly, fur bristling and muscles positioning his body to match Tsume's pose exactly. Now poised for combat, he pulled his lips back to expose his fangs and sneered fiercely, "Are you going to do something about it?"

"Was that a challenge?" Tsume growled right back, his voice taunting and his growl widening into a smug grin. It all conveyed a simple message: Tsume wasn't taking Kiba's threats seriously.

Kiba shuddered with anger, his growl rising to match the volume Tsume had reached earlier. Tsume's grin grew wider, his eyes beckoning towards him to just try and take him on. Dinally, Kiba lowered his body to the ground in a crouch, readying himself to leap at him in one swift motion.

But before Kiba could even try, there was a blur as Kuri leaped and pinned Tsume on his back in the snow, her features twisted in a fierce snarl. Tsume and Kiba stared in shock, but Tsume quickly recovered, chuckling beneath her. "Get off of me."

"Only if you promise to lay off my sister." Kuri barked back.

There was a flurry of brown and gray as Tsume tried to push Kuri off, but in the end, Tsume jerked away with a fresh bite wound on his shoulder. Kuri glowered at him nearby, wiping her mouth with the back of her sleeve, still angry but obviously unsettled. Then, lowering her voice in what sounded like a threat, she repeated, "Lay off of my sister."

No one spoke for a couple of minutes, instead seeming to be absorbing the scene just as the snow absorbed the drops of Tsume's wound. Then, quietly Kiba said, "Tsume."

"I'm fine." Tsume yelled, his eyes never leaving Kuri's face. "This is nothing."

Kuri took a breath, straightening her back as she looked at him. "Atra already knows what she did. If you're so keen on throwing us out, do it in the morning when we're not all dead on our feet. But as of right now, nothing you say… and nothing I do…" Kuri acknowledged, uncertainty tainting her expression briefly, "Can be considered valid. I say we rest and talk about this tomorrow morning."

Tsume clutched his shoulder, trembling with anger as he simply glared at the wolf in front of him. Then, through gritted teeth, he hissed, "Fine. I'll see you all then." He got up and started to limp away.

Kiba looked at him, "Where are you going?"

"To get away from all of you bastards." Tsume shouted back, his pace quickening. Knowing better than to protest, instead they watched as his form was swallowed by the night, the only sign of him being there being the fresh trail of blood dotting the snow.

Atra stepped out from behind Kiba and immediately walked to Kuri, amazement in her eyes. "I can't believe you just did that."

"It went by so fast, I…" Kuri began, her own face now filled with shock. "I just thought that out of all of us here, I would be the safest… And I ended up…"

"It's alright." Kiba said, looking at her. "It didn't look too deep so he won't have that much trouble with it. Besides, maybe it was exactly what Tsume needed."

Kuri looked up at him, guilt still evident in her features, but nodded. Kiba sighed, "We should all head to sleep… We all need it."

* * *

><p>Atra cocked her ear to the side, listening to the rhythm of the wolves sleeping nearby. Their breaths were even, steady in the way beings could only maintain in their sleep. Slowly, she opened an eye and looked around before carefully getting to her feet.<p>

Kuri was asleep, her body curled in on itself to find warmth on the icy ground. Stepping around her, Atra maneuvered through the other members of the pack before finally glancing at Kiba.

He was awake, _wide_ awake, and currently staring at her only six feet away. They exchanged glances, both of their expressions curious, before finally Atra ducked her head and started on a much needed walk.

The sky was clear that night, and while the crescent moon provided little light for a lone wolf, the stars more than made up for it. Looking away from the sky, Atra turned her eyes to the snowy wasteland that stretched in front of her, the only sound to distract her being the quiet crunch of snow beneath her paws.

As simple as it all seemed, it was just what Atra needed to think. She thought back to the afternoon and the chaos that had ensued when they had stolen Kuri back from the soldiers. She thought to how hard it was to breathe as she listened to the rest of the pack talk after Toboe had arrived, every syllable out of their mouths only sounding like another second wasted. She thought back to that morning, her dreams, those faint cries, and how after all that terror, all those dark memories, she'd woken up to see those golden, worried eyes.

"Careful," A voice warned behind her as its owner sidled in beside her. "You might get lost."

Startled, Atra looked up and saw the very eyes she had been thinking of, but this time, the worry was replaced with something not unlike sympathy. Atra fought back a grimace at the thought and turned away. Kiba, sensing quite accurately that she had nothing to say, spoke instead. "Are you alright?"

Atra paused in her step and turned her head towards him, the look in her eyes explanation enough. Kiba stared back at her, unblinking, and gradually his features began to soften. "Tsume was just tired."

Atra shook her head, scoffing darkly under her breath. "That doesn't mean he wasn't right." When Kiba didn't reply, Atra let out another frustrated sigh and continued on her walk.

It took a few moments for Atra to realize that Kiba was following her, still tagging along at a steady pace at her side. She glanced at him, surprised, "You're following me?"

"I said you might get lost." Kiba replied as if this was the most obvious conclusion in the world.

Though barely satisfied with this explanation, Atra shook her head and moved on while doing her best to cope with Kiba's company beside her, though she was having a hard time doing it. Kiba had a presence, just something about him that Atra just couldn't ignore. Then again, neither could anyone else. It was irritating, and captivating, and very quickly getting under Atra's skin.

Finally, Atra made a sharp turn in the snow, blocking Kiba's way forward. "_Why_ are you following me?"

Kiba looked at her, his expression quizzical. Then finally, he said, "I just thought you'd need some company. Would you rather I go back?"

His question hung in the air, innocent and harmless. But for all Atra's uneasiness, his explanation for following her struck her. She did need some company, on this night more than any other. It was just odd that out of all the choices, she'd found that company in Kiba.

Atra relaxed in defeat, shaking her head and sighing softly, "No. I guess I was going to head back anyway."

"Are you sure? You look… upset." Kiba pointed out as she stepped out of his way and started to head back to the pack.

"I have a lot of things on my mind, that's all." Atra replied, pausing to watch Kiba turn around to join her. "A bunch of unanswered questions mostly… And some of the things Tsume said…"

"I wouldn't take what Tsume says too seriously." Kiba interrupted his tone somewhat dry. "I'm not saying that he was _wrong_ but the way he says things are usually…" He stopped, in both speech and step, only to see that Atra was several paces behind him, frowning deeply.

Then, as if Kiba's gaze had recalled her attention once more, Atra looked up and walked up to him, "If that's the case, can I ask you a question?" Kiba nodded slowly, resuming his walk. Atra looked down as she moved, seeming to contemplate her words before saying slowly, "If you didn't think Tsume was wrong… why did you defend me?"

"Just because I said Tsume wasn't wrong doesn't mean he was completely right." Kiba muttered with a hint of annoyance in his tone.

"That doesn't really answer my question." Atra looked at him, waiting until she caught his eyes in hers and slowing until both of them had come to a stop.

Kiba blinked, once, twice before turning to look at the silhouettes of their pack in the distance, his expression thoughtful. It wasn't until Atra began to fidget that he granted her an answer, "I thought he was going to hurt you."

She looked at him, dubious. "Did you?"

"Well he was pretty angry."

Atra nodded in agreement, "Right. So the only one allowed to get so angry at me is you?"

"I never said that." Kiba said, his tone almost insulted. Then he noticed the playful spark in her eyes and sighed. "I have gotten angry at you a lot since we've met, haven't I?"

"We're making progress. This conversation hasn't devolved into an argument yet." Atra said with a smile.

He grunted in reply, and Atra found herself a little nervous, a little unsure of whether he was taking her humor in stride. They walked on for a bit before Kiba said quietly, "I never wanted to hurt you when I was angry, though."

"You threw me into a wall."

Kiba flinched a bit at the reminder, "I… wasn't really myself then." He paused before adding his own humor into the conversation, "And technically, when I did I wasn't angry at _you_."

Atra chuckled softly and Kiba smiled, going on, "But Tsume... I just didn't want him to lose control and take it out on you." He smirked a little, "I've been there before. And honestly, I'm not sure if you'd be able to take it."

She rolled her eyes at the show of masculine pride, however subtle in Kiba's disposition. Then, quietly she said, "Well if he did lose control, I'm sure I would have deserved whatever he threw at me."

Kiba started, looking over at her in surprise. Atra looked at him with a sheepish expression before explaining, "I went through so much to find Kuri and free her. And then I go and endanger her all over again, in the very first city we get to. I would have taken whatever beating Tsume was willing to give me. It would have been easier than beating _myself_ up over it."

He mulled over Atra's words before he spoke, his tone gentle. "You said yourself you didn't know the soldiers were in the city."

"That's no excuse."

"No…" Kiba agreed reluctantly, "But… You were unprepared. And recently you've become more accustomed to looking after yourself and Kuri than yourself and your pack. And we've all made our mistakes when we first started out—"

"Like walking undisguised through a city street?" Atra interjected teasingly.

Kiba growled once more at the reminder before conceding, "Like walking undisguised through a city street." He held her gaze before adding, "We're here now. You have a second chance. Use it."

Atra smiled and chuckled softly. "Well that's one way of putting it." She looked to him, "You know, a smart wolf would have kicked me out of the pack by now."

Kiba shrugged. "You joined this pack by choice… As far as I'm concerned, that's the same way you're going to leave it. Even if you don't believe in what we're searching for until then."

A moment passed, and Atra heard Kiba take another step in the snow. Assuming that he was starting to walk again, she turned back only to find Kiba leaning over her, his lips at her ear. "But for the record," He whispered, his breath blowing against her ear. "I still think you believe in Paradise more than you let on."

Atra's eyes went wide once more, her heart stumbling as it tried to rediscover its own beat. Slowly, Kiba moved back, looking at her with a small smile on his face. Finally, Atra met his eyes, a blush surfacing on her cheeks. "Yeah well… We'll see."

Kiba smirked, as if amused by the brevity of her answer. Then, just as he opened his mouth to say something else, his nose twitched. Atra studied him, confused, but before she could ask Kiba said, "You should be heading back. It's getting late."

"…I… guess?" Atra said, raising an eyebrow. Taking a few moments to consider it, she nodded in agreement, her tone confident this time. "Yeah. I am feeling a little tired. But what about you?"

"I'm going to walk around for a little bit and make sure there aren't any soldiers out to get us." Kiba joked, chuckling as Atra scowled and started to walk away from him in response, kicking up a spray of snow in the process.

Kiba watched as her form distanced itself from his own against the horizon, and then finally, watched as it laid down to rest. For a few moments, he simply watched the pack as they slept. But before long, he felt a familiar gray wolf take Atra's place at his side. "How's the bite?"

Tsume grimaced, "Packed some snow on it. It's not so bad though." Kiba glanced at him, and eyed the mess of blood on his shoulder. Tsume caught him staring and chuckled, "Yeah, bitch got a pair of chops on her, I'll tell you that."

Kiba rolled his eyes, "Have you reconsidered what to do about her sister?"

"Yeah."

Kiba turned to him, "So?"

Tsume rolled his eyes, "So there's Kuri who tried to tear my arm off, Hige who lives for girls and food, and the kid who's suddenly found two new mommies in the mix. Not to mention _you_ who's suddenly tagging along with Atra for moonlight walks and pep talks. I'm going to take a leap here and say I'm outnumbered."

Kiba made a soft sound of amusement, "So are you going to sleep with the pack now?"

"Like I got anymore to lose." Tsume scoffed.

They were quiet for a while, watching the pack as they dozed beneath the night sky. Suddenly, Tsume took a few quick steps boldly towards Kiba and started to lean over him, ignoring him as he stiffened and exclaimed, "Tsume, what are you doing?"

Pushing his question aside, Tsume leaned in to whisper in his ear. "And just for the record," He grinned devilishly, "I think you '_believe_' in Atra more than you let on." Then, for good measure, Tsume bit down on Kiba's ear and pulled on it sharply, leaping away as Kiba let out a loud yell.

"Tsume!" Kiba barked, pawing at his ear as Tsume ran away, laughing. Growling to himself, he started to run after him. "Tsume, get back here!"

"Better come up with better lines, Kiba. That one was way too easy." Tsume called back teasingly, one of them laughing, and both of them running into the night.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> So you're all allowed to shoot the author. All that talk about me not forgetting about you guys and I didn't post for more than a month! Granted, I never did _forget_ about posting (I scolded myself for not putting chapters up every step of the way) but that's no excuse. So in honor of my failure and of Thanksgiving, this will be the first of three chapters I'll be posting this week. Hope you all enjoy them!

_**alicelouise'x**_**: **Admittedly, I was not a huge fan of Cheza myself (and I'm still not). For reference though, I am going to try to play up the dog/wolf & master relationship between her and Kiba in this fic rather than a romantic aspect, just because that's how I always saw it while watching the anime. And then I started reading fanfiction... [/sigh]

**_HAPPY THANKSGIVING!_**


	8. Chapter 8

**Light Embracing Darkness: Chapter Eight**

_The Countess D_

* * *

><p>"Do you think it's safe?"<p>

"Hey, come on. You're with me, aren't you?"

She laughed, looking at him skeptically as he led her through the forest trail. "Yes, because you're oh-so-dependable. I wouldn't put the job of hunting a doe with a broken leg in your hands, let alone my life."

He made a show of subservience, bowing his head lowly as if in shame. "You wound me." After a moment of holding his act, he let a smirk cross his expression as he regained his pride. "Come on, Atra. Nothing's going to happen."

"I know, but…" Atra shifted her weight from paw to paw. "We won't be gone long, will we?"

He watched her closely before moving closer to her. "We'll be back before you know it." He replied tenderly, nuzzling her cheek before continuing to walk down the mountain. "Now come on, my lady. The village awaits."

Atra chuckled, allowing her guide to walk some distance ahead of her, admiring his gait and the touch of sun on his fur. Gazing on for a bit, she wondered when she had begun considering that particular shade of red beautiful.

His figure stopped in the distance before turning around, his chuckle sounding much farther away than he actually was. "Atra?"

* * *

><p>"Atra?" Hige nudged at the sleeping wolf a bit impatiently as the others looked on from a short distance.<p>

The female shifted a little in her sleep, taking a breath before murmuring quietly, "I'm coming, I'm coming."

Hige glanced at the wolves behind him before rolling his eyes, "Sure doesn't look like it." Using his paw to roll Atra over onto her back a bit roughly, he raised his voice to shout into Atra's ear. "Come on, the pack's about to get moving!"

Letting out a soft 'oof' as her back hit the cave floor, Atra's eyes opened, blinking rapidly as she processed where she was. Blushing as she rolled back onto her own feet and scrambled to get up, she muttered an apology. Hige shook his head, smiling understandingly as he walked with her to join the pack. "Don't worry about it. Seems like you were having a nice dream."

"Best I've had in a long time." Atra admitted.

"Yeah?" Hige said, "What was it about?"

Atra hesitated before answering as they reached their companions. "An old friend."

"If you girls are done gossiping, we'd like to get a move on now." Tsume barked. He was immediately rewarded with a disgruntled look from both Atra and Hige. Unfortunately for them, he wasn't finished.

He fixed Atra with a glare, "Hey, Sleeping Beauty. We can't spend every morning waiting for you to join us, you know."

"Oh lay off, Tsume. You didn't complain half as much when Toboe was the one sleeping in." Kuri said, sidling over to her sister's side.

"Yeah, well Toboe is a _lot _easier to carry."

Kiba, sensing that that no good could come out of any situation following Tsume's words, quickly intervened. "Shut up, all of you. Now come on, we have to get going."

The wolves watched as Kiba turned to leave with Toboe and Hige being the first to follow. Tsume rolled his eyes, grumbling lowly before following suit, "To what?"

Kuri and Atra hovered at the back of the group, thankful that Kiba didn't seem keen on running so early in the morning. As soon as the boys were out of earshot, Kuri turned to her sister. "An old friend?"

Atra didn't even spare a glance at her, predicting correctly that a verbal response wasn't needed. "It was about him, wasn't it?" Atra nodded imperceptibly and Kuri fell silent as thoughts and memories clouded her mind.

"It was the first time we went down the mountain together." Atra said quietly, smiling almost apologetically as she looked at Kuri. "You didn't want us to go."

"I thought it was dangerous." Kuri recounted, the tone of her voice betraying just how far her thoughts had strayed into their past. Kuri turned to Atra with a sudden urgency, "Have you heard anything about him since then?"

Atra's eyes widened for a moment, somewhat confused before she realized that her dream wasn't the 'then' Kuri was referring to. "I haven't."

"Have you looked?"

"I was busy trying to find you."

"Atra, if there is anyone from the pack that's still out there, that's still trying to find us, it's him." Kuri said, a touch of desperation tinting her voice.

Her sister shook her head sternly, "We should be grateful that we managed to find each other. Hoping and running off after anyone else would be… irresponsible." Atra said decisively. "Besides… at least we have a pack at all."

Reluctantly, Kuri nodded before letting out a sigh. She stared after the pack in question. Toboe would glance back at them in worry every few moments, mild worry in his eyes. Catching his eye, she smiled reassuringly before saying softly, "I guess you're right."

"Of course I am." Atra said, chuckling a bit at Kuri's indignant look in response. She looked back at the boys and added, "You know, I'm kind of amazed they've let us stay this long. I mean, they don't know much about us. Besides the fact that you were sold in Zali's city, anyway."

"Well, they all seem to have their own story. But honestly I'm not sure they even care." Kuri said simply.

"It's so trusting, though. More naïve than I'd expect of them." Atra paused before lowering her voice in shame, "And after what happened at the last city, I'm not sure I deserve it."

"You don't." Kuri replied bluntly, and Atra let out an angry bark, attracting some attention from the others ahead of them. Kuri laughed, shaking her head at them. "It's nothing. As you were!" Reluctantly, the wolves turned away once more.

Turning back to Atra, Kuri laughed. "It's true, though. You don't deserve it. But like I said, these guys don't care. And they know you didn't mean it."

When Atra didn't show any sign of being convinced, Kuri added quietly, "Kiba seems to know that you're trustworthy. I mean, forgiving you for all that stuff you did?"

"That's exactly my point." Atra muttered, "Kiba's understanding, but sometimes being understanding can be a little dangerous. Sometimes I think Tsume's attitude is better suited as far as protecting a pack goes."

Kuri scoffed, her voice rising in resentment. "The only problem being that Tsume has a stick up his—"

"I can hear you." Tsume yelled, and Kuri looked up at him in surprise before smirking at Atra.

"I told you." She then watched as Tsume glowered at the two of them before walking to the front of the pack. Toboe glanced at the girls before following after him. The smirk on Kuri's face only widened. "I think he likes me."

"Let's hope not." Atra quipped, "I don't think I'd want to see the kind of pups that would result from that relationship."

Kuri burst out laughing at the very thought. Atra smiled uneasily at the sound, deciding that it sounded just a bit too mischievous for her tastes. Just hearing it, she found it ironic that the boys thought of _her_ as the troublemaker in the family. "Paradise be damned, if that ever happens let's hope they get my attitude."

Suddenly, Toboe called out to them from the front of the pack. "Hey guys! I think I see a village!"

The sisters exchanged glances before picking up the pace to catch up to the others. Before long, they were looking down at a cluster of buildings at the foot of the hill they stood on. Smoke trailed from chimneys on rooftops, a telltale sign of human life. For a while, the wolves seemed to be at a loss of what to say. Finally, Hige frowned. "What now?"

"Should we go around it?" Toboe asked timidly.

"Of course we should." Tsume answered almost immediately. "It may be too much of a risk to head down there anyway."

"It would be just as much of a risk to go around it." Kuri replied, ignoring the look of annoyance he shot her. "A human village in the middle of nowhere usually absorbs all the resources in the area for themselves. There would be nothing left for us. That and it would take longer to avoid it anyway."

"Kuri's right." Kiba said, "If we head down into the village we can stock up. Gain strength before we head out again. Besides, I doubt soldiers would come anywhere near here. They're more likely to search in cities."

"Plus, I don't think Atra could cause enough trouble here to get their attention if they did happen to be nearby, right Atra?" Hige joked wryly. He prepared himself for her barbed response, only to be met with silence. He looked over to her, only to realize that she'd once again slipped into her own world, her stare focused on the village with an unreadable expression on her face. "Yo, Atra?"

She frowned.

"_Now come on, my lady. The village awaits."_

A nudge to her side pulled her from her thoughts. Atra looked at Kuri in confusion, only to realize that she'd been spoken to. "Oh, sorry."

"Geez. I think you still need some sleep." Hige said with a sigh. "You're kind of off today."

"Maybe." Atra agreed, not noticing that her acquiescence only seemed to surprise and puzzle Hige even more. Any other time, of course, she'd be amused by just how accustomed he'd become to their playful bickering in the few weeks that she'd known him.

Kiba looked at her curiously before saying, "If that's the case maybe it is a good idea to rest in the village for a while. At least until you're feeling better."

"Oh no, I'm fine." Atra said, shaking her head vigorously. "It's just…"

"Look, we'll stay in the village, all right?" Tsume interrupted. "It looks like that's the choice everyone's leaning towards anyway. Just make sure you get that head on straight enough to make yourself seem human."

Atra nodded, puzzling everyone but Tsume at her easy obedience to his words. Tsume of course, was simply too eager to get a move on to care. "Come on. Let's find a place to stay."

* * *

><p>Hige watched as the girls walked into one of the village shops in an attempt to weasel out information, his eyes wandering every so often to look at the village pathways around him. "This place seems kind of empty, don't you think?"<p>

"They're probably not used to getting visitors." Kiba said, his eyes never leaving the shop's window. "They're suspicious."

"I don't blame them." Tsume said, "I'd be suspicious of anyone that just wandered in out of nowhere." Kiba glanced at him, his eyes narrowing slightly as he attempted to discern if the villager's aversion to their arrival was the _only_ thing Tsume was referring to. When he didn't find any sign of a double meaning he looked away, satisfied.

Toboe frowned, piping up suddenly. "Atra seems to be acting weird today, doesn't she?"

"Now what does that have to do with anything?" Tsume asked gruffly.

"Nothing. But I mean, she's been acting weird ever since she woke up. And I mean, on the way here, she was only talking to Kuri. I know they're sisters and all, but…" Toboe trailed off, not wanting to give away the fact that he was a little hurt by the lack of attention they'd been paying him lately.

Hige rolled his eyes, "Look kid, sometimes girls just need their alone time, all right?"

"Yeah, but… what about that dream she had?" Toboe said, "When you two were walking up to us, she seemed kind of bothered by it."

"She said it was about an old friend, that's all." Hige shrugged.

After a bit of hesitation, Toboe said quietly, "Sounds like she might be thinking about her old pack to me."

Hige thought about it then jumped as if he were physically shocked by the realization. "Damn! You're right. Do you think we should talk to her about it?"

"Why should we?" Tsume replied. "We've all lost our packs. Just because she hasn't gotten over it by now—"

"But Kuri and Atra haven't lost their pack until recently, haven't they? That's why Kuri had only just been sold to Zali's pack." Toboe frowned, looking on at the two sympathetically. "At least we've had _time_ to come to terms with losing our friends. And even then, it doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt."

The wolves went silent, continuing to look on at the girls. They'd managed to start what looked like a deep conversation with the shopkeeper, who was slowly warming up to the presence of these strangers in his home.

Kiba frowned as he examined Atra, noticing that there was a kind of uncertainty in her motions, in her eyes. It was the look and manner of someone being haunted by their thoughts, by their past. Looking at her now, Kiba couldn't help but remember how she looked on the hotel carpet, twitching and whimpering in her sleep as she ran from the demons that were hunting her down.

Tsume snorted suddenly, interrupting his thoughts, "Well if someone's going to be the shoulder to cry on, it's not going to be me."

Hige snickered quietly, "And that attitude is exactly why Kuri likes you so much." Tsume sneered in reply, the scowl remaining on his face when he turned to see the girls returning from the shop.

Atra took one look at him and chuckled. "Careful. If you make that face too much it'll stay that way."

Kuri chimed in, "Too late."

Tsume ignored the two and cut right to business, saying curtly, "What did you find out?"

"Because of its location the village doesn't get many visitors, but there's a family to the south that houses the rare merchant or vagabond that passes through." Atra said, gesturing in the direction of the family's home. "But judging from the sizes of these buildings, I'm not sure they'd have enough rooms for all of us."

"Alternatively, there are a few abandoned buildings around the village whose families just moved out." Kuri added, "But I don't think the villagers would be happy to see us just move right in."

"What about a place to eat?" Hige asked.

Toboe blanched, "Would you stop thinking about food for one second? We haven't even figured out where we're staying."

"Easy: wherever the food's at."

Before Toboe could scold the overeager wolf once more, Kiba cut in. "He might have a point. I think we're all hungry right now. If we move into an abandoned building, we might be forced to steal food, and that will attract more negative attention from the villagers. I'd rather not be driven out like last time." Most of the pack seemed to be in agreement on that point.

Atra blushed at the memory, attempting in vain to regain her composure as she spoke. "Then a visit to the family it is."

* * *

><p>"This wasn't really my idea of a comfortable place to stay in." Hige grumbled as he settled into a pile of hay.<p>

"I don't think it was for any of us." Toboe conceded, pacing as he looked around for his own place to sleep in the empty barn.

Tsume rolled his eyes, "Yeah, so stop complaining."

The 'family' Atra and Kuri had been referred to was wildly different from what they expected. When they finally reached the house in question, it was silent, with the only assurance that someone was still living there being the scent of two humans permeating the area. In the end, it was Toboe who knocked on the door, and it was an old woman that answered it.

Despite her old age, she surveyed their group with keen eyes as they explained their situation. Her gaze lingered particularly on Kuri and Atra before she regretfully told them that there were merchants already occupying what little guest rooms she had available, and that she and her grandson occupied the two rooms besides those. Rather than simply turning them away, however, she offered them a place in her barn to spend the night.

When she added an offer of food, their empty stomachs and lack of any other viable options convinced them to take up her offer.

"Well at least she gave us food." Hige frowned, beginning to rummage through the bag she gave them. Bread and a good amount of roasted chicken was included in a couple of containers inside, though it was clear that it wouldn't be quite enough to fill the stomachs of six hungry wolves. "What I don't get is why she just didn't invite us to dinner with those merchants."

"I doubt there were any merchants at all." Atra said, flicking off the cover of a container with a claw. "There were only _two _human scents around the house after all."

Kiba looked to her, "So what are you saying?"

"She thinks Kuri and I are… compromised."

Kuri choked a little on her first bite of food, looking completely scandalized by the suggestion. Toboe looked up at her, confused. "What does that mean?"

Hige chuckled, "Oh I get it. A couple of girls with three guys and a kid. You're right, that does look pretty bad." Toboe looked even more confused for a moment before the truth suddenly dawned on him. Kuri watched as the look on his face went from realization to blushing embarrassment in a moment, giggling quietly as he focused all his attention on eating his food.

"Even so," Tsume began, "How does that justify her putting us in the barn?"

"She's an older woman." Atra explained, "And those tend to have more… traditional human beliefs. Just think about it this way: wolves usually mate for life with one other wolf, right? Now think about one female being shared between multiple males. I mean, wolves would just think it's strange, but humans basically stigmatize relationships like that altogether."

"Well look who's the expert on humans now." Tsume drawled, taking his share of a meal.

Kuri nodded, speaking between bites. "I'd believe her. Atra's spent enough time with humans to know."

Toboe looked at the wolf in question, the blush gone from his cheeks. "You have?"

Atra shrugged, "I used to go visit villages nearby our pack. Once I went to a city. They were… learning experiences."

"So you were still as reckless as ever, then." Kiba said his tone a little stern as he looked across the barn at Atra.

"I wasn't always _alone_." She protested, seemingly a little embarrassed by the admission.

Hige, sensing that there was more to this admission, prodded a little with a mischievous grin. "Oh? Who were you with then?"

"_Friends_." Atra said firmly, sending Kuri a look when a soft snicker reached her ears and missing the questioning frown that flickered across Kiba's face. "And for someone who's complained so much about not eating, you're using your mouth more to talk than to gulp down your food."

Hige rolled his eyes and fell silent, taking Atra's advice and focusing on easing his own hunger. Finally, when the last of the chicken bones hit the barn floor, he lay back with a contented sigh. After a pause, he said, "That old hag's probably expecting us to bring that container back to her."

Kuri moved to get up, "I'll do it." Tsume watched as she stood and picked up the bag and its contents, noticing thin lines hidden amongst the fur along her back for the first time. He frowned before closing his eyes when she finally walked out the door. For a while the only sounds in the barn were those of Toboe and Hige attempting to find a comfortable way to sleep, and finally their snores as they slumbered.

After a few moments, Atra moved to get up from the spot where she'd eaten her dinner. She stretched a little as she looked around the barn, yawning. "So after we leave this village, what then?"

"We keep running until the next one." Kiba replied simply, pacing in one spot before laying down, yawning a bit himself.

"Until you find… what?"

He looked up at her, "The Flower Maiden." To his surprise, Atra showed no sign of skepticism or confusion at his answer. She simply nodded before craning her neck to peer up at the loft above them. As if intrigued by her acceptance of this matter, he continued on, unconsciously hoping to draw something out of her. "We've already seen her once. When we first met up, actually."

"I would've liked to see that. I've seen lunar flowers before. Well, supposedly." Atra admitted, not noticing that Kiba had nearly jolted up in surprise. She smiled, as if lost in her own thoughts. "If they're anything to go by, I'd imagine she would be very beautiful." She glanced at him before leaping up into the loft, pacing a bit before laying across the hay there.

Kiba stared up at her in silence until Tsume chuckled from his bed amongst the hay. "You and your sister are just a bunch of surprises, aren't you?"

At that moment Kuri had chosen to re-enter the barn. She smirked a little, replying sarcastically, "Of course. Careful, we might even blow up at any moment."

Tsume scoffed, turning away from her and closing his eyes in a gesture indicating that the discussion was now over. Kuri gave her own scoff in return before spotting her sister above her and moving to join her. Her soft mutter of, "Seriously, what's his problem?" were the last words any of the wolves heard before they drifted off to sleep.

* * *

><p>The room was quiet as his request hung in the air. His master stared down at him unflinchingly, like a statue set in stone. Finally, there was a reply. "And you really think this will be worth our time? Our resources?"<p>

"In all due respect, Master, I thought that you of all people would understand how important it is to have another half." He paused, "The goal I have in mind is the most convenient way for me to obtain that half. Not just for personal benefit but also out of necessity."

The corners of his master's mouth twitched a little at this reply. "Go on."

"Not a few weeks ago, the biggest mistake those wolves made was making the assumption that they alone would be able to fulfill the purpose of Paradise. But any being worthy of finding it should realize that to reap its benefits alone would be selfish. If Paradise is found, it should be accessible to the _kind_, not just the _individuals_ that find it."

By this time, the corners of his master's mouth had lifted into a smirk, "Which is why the presence of the opposite sex is valuable in this situation."

"Necessary." He corrected. "And I believe recognizing this necessity will be the difference between those who find Paradise and those who don't."

"And you don't think they have?"

He paused before saying cautiously, "I think they've yet to realize the importance of it, yes. I also believe that the longer we allow them to travel together, the more likely it is that they will."

The room fell silent once more, his master leaning back in thought. Finally, the silence was broken. "Yours is the most interesting argument for sex I believe I've ever heard."

His audience was silent.

"Regardless, I do realize that your argument has some… merit. But I refuse to support it heavily with the resources we have available to us."

"I understand."

"If you like, I will temporarily relieve you of your station, and allow you to travel with the troops. If you truly believe that you can track your targets based on a post-battle glimpse –"

"And with all due respect, I _can_."

"Then you will be allowed to do so. My soldiers will be instructed to obey your orders, should you find any necessary."

"Thank you, Master."

A curt nod, a wave of the hand, and it was all over. "You are dismissed."


	9. Chapter 9

**Light Embracing Darkness: Chapter Nine**

_The Countess D_

* * *

><p>In a village as isolated as the one they found, there was no doubt that sleep was going to be an easy and quiet affair. Throughout the night, there hadn't been a single noise that bothered the wolves in their slumber. Unfortunately, that also meant that there hadn't been a single noise that could have prepared them for the awakening they were about to receive.<p>

BANG.

The wolves jolted awake immediately, each of them looking in shock to the barn entrance. Atra and Kuri were both on their feet in moments, glancing at each other before they peered over the edge of the loft to see a human in the doorway and four wolves staring at him in silence. Then with a yell, the human fled the doorway, calling for his grandmother in the neighboring home.

Kiba swore under his breath before adopting his human guise while the others followed suit. "He saw us."

"We better leave." Tsume muttered, looking pointedly at the girls still up in the loft. Taking the hint, they jumped down to join the lot of the pack and approached the barn door with the rest of them.

Then, just as sudden as his initial entrance, the human reappeared with the old woman that had granted them their place in the barn in tow. His voice rose and fell in an obvious sign of panic, and there was desperation in his movements that made the growing scent of fear on his person no surprise. "I'm telling you, 'Ma, there were a bunch of dogs in the barn—"

He stopped when he found six teenagers staring at him blankly, and the woman looked from the group to her grandson before swatting at his head. With no other words exchanged between them, she marched back to her home, grumbling intermittently about 'demented grandsons' all the while.

Her grandson stared at the pack blankly, stammering when he finally found his ability to speak again. "But… but all of you… There were…"

After a good moment of silent stares between the pack and the poor boy, Kuri stepped forward. "I'm sorry. You came in here and seemed so shocked that my friends and I weren't sure if we were welcome. We were just about to leave."

"Welcome? Oh no! I mean, I was coming to apologize for my grandmother last night but then I saw these huge – I mean none of you were…" He stopped to take a deep breath before saying simply, "I'm sorry. It seems I wasn't fully awake before coming in to see all of you this morning."

Kuri smiled gently, "Apparently. You must have been very tired if you mistook all of us for a bunch of dogs."

He looked at her, ironically seeming to really 'see' her for the first time since he'd returned to the barn, and smiled sheepishly. "Yes. I don't see how anyone could mistake you for a dog, Miss…?"

"Kuri." She replied patiently. The boy smiled and repeated the name to himself, observing her while the wolves behind her exchanged glances.

Tsume grunted at the scene before saying, "You were saying something about apologizing?"

He looked up at Tsume, a bit of anxiety returning to his eyes before he cleared his throat, seemingly steeling himself for whatever complaints they may be ready to throw his way. "Yes. You see my grandma and I house people that pass through this village, usually with the most hospitality we can give them. So when I found out this morning that she placed you all in the barn when all of our rooms were empty… I thought we owed you an apology."

"Well you've given it to us." Tsume said bluntly, "Is that all?"

The boy's eyes widened a little, obviously taken aback by the brusque nature of the man in front of him before he said with as much confidence as he could muster, "Actually. I was wondering if you could join me for breakfast. 'Ma's actually going to visit a friend across the village in a bit, so I'll be in need of company."

"Breakfast?" Hige said excitedly before laughing, "Sounds great! Hey, guys, we have time to eat some breakfast, right?" He draped his arms around Kiba and Toboe, grinning in anticipation of their agreement.

Toboe looked at him, pouting slightly. "Well with you getting that excited over it, we don't really have a choice."

Hige's grin widened, "That's what I'm counting on."

The boy laughed at the display. "All right then. Follow me." He paused, making a gesture for Kuri to walk at his side. "And by the way, my name's Leon."

"Leon." Kuri repeated before turning to look back at the wolves behind her. Atra looked at her sister knowingly, earning a wink in response before Kuri turned back around to face the house Leon was leading her to.

* * *

><p>"So tell me again why you're all traveling together." Leon asked as he took a bite out of the pancakes he'd prepared for all of them.<p>

"Our homes were raided during the war." Kuri said, taking her own bites in between words. "Since then we've just been trying to figure out where to settle down."

"But you're not related?" Leon asked, looking at the boys across the table.

Kuri shook her head. "No, not to them. The only ones related here are my sister and me."

"I see." Leon said, placing his fork on his plate and leaning back in his chair. "That was the reason Ma put all of you in the barn last night, to be honest."

"We figured." Atra cut in, taking a bite from an apple. "But if she'd waited to hear us out, she would have realized we wanted at least two rooms between us. This… group we're traveling in looks worse than it actually is." Atra ignored the looks from the boys' end of the table at the statement, taking another bite instead.

She couldn't, however, ignore the way Leon was looking at her. After allowing him to observe her for a bit, Atra turned to catch his eye only to find him looking back at Kuri. "Well if what you need is another night here, then you'll have it."

"Actually." Leon turned to Kiba as he spoke up. Kiba looked at him to make sure he had his attention before continuing, "We may have to get back to you on that. We don't know if we're going to leave just yet."

Atra frowned, "We don't?"

"Well…" Kiba glanced at her before deciding to ask her whether she was feeling better at another time. "First of all, we need to know where the closest city is."

"It takes about half a day to get there."

"By foot?"

"No, by car." Leon paused before looking at them with an astonished look on his face, "Wait, you mean you all have been traveling by foot this entire time?"

Tsume frowned, "We didn't have any other choice."

Leon processed this information before looking to Kuri as if to see if it was true. Kuri shrugged in response and he shook his head. "Uh-uh. No way. Not one of you is going to leave this village by foot."

Tsume's eyes narrowed, the gray wolf apparently misreading the statement as a threat. "Is that so?"

"I mean it!" Leon replied before concluding simply, "I'm going to get you a car."

Kuri's eyes grew bright in excitement. But before she could accept Leon's offer, Tsume said curtly, "We don't drive."

"Then I'll find you someone who can." Leon replied, unaffected by his reply. He looked around the table at every single one of them before saying firmly, "Come on. Think of it as an extended apology for 'Ma. How about that?"

Hige looked to Tsume and Kiba as if for approval. "Well, as long as someone's willing to drive us…"

"And how would you get the car?" Tsume asked, looking at Leon with a challenging spark in his eye.

"We keep one out back to drive out to the city when we need supplies." Leon said simply. When Tsume sneered in reply and leaned back in his seat, he cleared his throat. "Look, I'll leave you guys to talk about it. In the meantime I'll find my Ma and see if it's all right with her."

Kuri nodded, smiling at him as he got up to leave. "Thank you." He nodded and glanced at the others a bit awkwardly before walking out the door.

The wolves listened for Leon's footsteps and the closing of the front door before Kuri turned to face Tsume at the end of the table. "So what, I get you a great deal on getting to the next city and all you can do is bitch about how the kid's going to do it?"

Tsume ignored her question completely and instead said accusingly, "You're _flirting_ with him."

She stared at him before exhaling sharply. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"He's a human." Tsume growled as he glared at her, "And you're a disgrace."

Hige coughed loudly, "Woah, Tsume, lay off. It's not like she's hurting anybody."

"Yeah!" Toboe chimed in before shrinking away at the look Tsume gave him. "And I mean she wasn't really flirting with him. She was just being nice."

"A bit too nice if you ask me." Tsume grumbled, crossing his arms as he looked at Kuri angrily.

Atra rolled her eyes. "It's polite. Besides, he's a nice kid. And he is getting the car for all of us, not just Kuri." She paused, as if contemplating whether or not what she had to say was appropriate before saying offhandedly, "Just because someone's jealous—"

Tsume and Hige made a choking sound, with Hige's quickly devolving into laughter as Tsume glared at Atra. As Tsume opened his mouth to fight the accusation, Atra raised her voice to speak over him. "Fine then, you're not jealous, you're just an ass." She turned to Kiba, "What's this about not knowing when we're leaving?"

Kiba glanced at Tsume before turning to Atra, the slight quirk at the corners of his mouth betraying his amusement despite his calm tone. "We could leave whenever you're up for it."

Atra frowned, her brow furrowed in confusion. "Why wouldn't I be up for it?"

Toboe looked to her, "You kind of had us worried yesterday. You seemed kind of sick."

"Oh." Atra said, realization dawning on her features. She smiled and shook her head, "No, I wasn't. Just a little… distracted. I'm better now, though. Besides, after what Leon saw in the barn this morning, I think it's better that we hightail it out of here, regardless of how I'm feeling."

"Well good. That's one thing we agree on." Tsume said. "But do you really believe a car is necessary? We don't even know if the city we're heading to is an outpost for the same soldiers that just chased us out of the last one."

"Then we ask." Kuri said, "After the story I told him about our families being killed in the war, it's completely plausible that we'd want to avoid soldiers. But even if it were, where else would we go?"

Tsume frowned at her, crossing his arms as he thought over her words. Kiba looked at him, "We can be dropped off in the city outskirts if there are soldiers occupying the city. The point is using a car to get there will let us get some extra rest. Then if anything, we maneuver around the city."

Toboe looked up at Tsume, "It does sound like a good idea, Tsume. And we all are tired."

He grunted before getting up from the table, "Fine. But don't come crying to me if we end up getting ambushed at the city gates."

* * *

><p>The whiskey burned as it went down, warming the bounty hunter from the inside out. He tilted his head back further, gulping the drink down as if he hadn't had a drink in ages. Once the glass was dry, he placed it on the bar and looked to the bartender. "Give me another."<p>

The bartender scrutinized him as he wiped down one of the glasses behind the counter. In truth, he'd barely been drinking (legally) for very long himself, but there was no mistaking a dangerous drunk, no matter your experience. "Don't you think you've had enough, old man?"

The 'old man' chuckled dryly, "How would you know when enough's enough, boy?" He stared at him evenly before digging in his pockets for a few bills to throw onto the counter. "One more drink and I'm done for the day. Got a room in a motel near here and a dog that'll tear the face off of anything that gets in my way. I know how to handle my liquor and its consequences, so don't you worry about me."

The bartender hesitated before swiping the bills off the table. Quent leaned back in his chair, watching as more whiskey was poured into his glass with a blank expression. No satisfaction at another glass, no smug smile. The bartender took a step back and watched as Quent stared into his glass. His type was a familiar one in these parts, in these times: lost.

It hung around him like flies on a corpse - that sense of loneliness and restless despair. The bartender took up the rag on the counter and continued wiping the same glass as before, glancing at him before speaking, "Where you headed?"

Quent smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes. "No idea."

"I hear that a lot in here." The bartender said with a wry laugh.

Quent took a drink from his glass, apparently content with savoring the last glass instead of gulping them down like the others. He closed his eyes as the liquid slid down his throat before gesturing to the bar door. "I got a bitch out there—"

"I hear that pretty often too." The bartender cut in, unable to resist the joke.

Quent grunted, apparently not quite so amused by the joke as the bartender had been hoping. "I have a _dog_ out there. I go where her nose takes us."

The bartender nodded, just noticing that he'd been cleaning the same spot since their conversation began. Setting the glass down beneath the counter with the others, he looked to Quent, "Looking for something?"

For the first time since he'd entered the bar, Quent smirked. "You could say that."

They both went silent then. The bartender, itching for some kind of conversation after a heartbreakingly slow night, tried to revive the conversation once more. "Aren't we all?" He shook his head, looking out the window at the front of the bar. "Hard to meet anyone nowadays that isn't looking for _something_. I've had people come in here looking for life, love, and lays."

When Quent didn't reply, the bartender chuckled to himself. "Even the soldiers that came in here a few days ago. Though that has to be the first time I've ever met a soldier that was looking for a couple of dogs."

"Dogs?"

Pleased that Quent was intrigued by this line of conversation, the bartender looked at him and grinned. "Oh yeah. Had to do with some thieving incident, near this very bar in fact."

Quent shifted his position on the bar stool, facing towards him. "A thieving incident?"

"Call girl that frequents the streets outside this bar got robbed. She says it was a huge black dog that followed her before stealing her purse. A couple of soldiers got involved, but before they could catch it, another one, a white one this time, showed up and they got away." The bartender glanced at Quent to find that he was very interested in the story, though there was now a strange look in his eyes. If the bartender didn't know any better, he'd almost say crazed.

"People who witnessed the thing said the dogs obviously had to be trained, so they went looking for a couple of kids they saw with the dogs moments before they vanished. Soldiers tried to arrest a suspect that matched the description of one of the owners, and – get this – at least five more dogs and kids showed up."

"At least?"

"Yeah. Witnesses and soldiers couldn't get an exact number. There was too much confusion and too many things going on. One guy says a dog clawed a soldier, and another one says the same soldier was stabbed by some skinhead. It's caused some conspiracy theories, honestly." The bartender laughed to himself. "Some nutcases even say that it seemed like the dogs and the kids seemed like they were one in the same."

There was the scrape of wood against the tile floor as Quent stood suddenly. The bartender looked at him in surprise. "You okay, old man?"

"Peachy." Quent replied, throwing his head back once more to down his last glass. Slamming the glass on the counter with more force than was needed, Quent then walked out the door. "Have yourself a good night, kid."

The bartender watched as he left, confused at his sudden departure. Then shrugging to himself, he reached for the glass Quent left behind and began to clean. "Guess he got spooked."

Outside the bar, Quent began to untie Blue from the post where he'd left her. She looked up at him, waiting for his orders even while she was fully aware of what they were going to be. There was no mistaking that faint scent on the city streets.

Quent stood and grasped Blue's leash in his hand. "We got us a lead, girl." Then, looking down at his dog, ever faithful, he said firmly. "Let's get 'em."

* * *

><p>"Ta da!" Leon said grinning a little sheepishly as he directed the gazes of his guests to the truck parked behind him, its doors already open. He was met with silence as they stared, each of his guests clearly unimpressed and without the heart to say it. Leon chuckled nervously. "There isn't much space in the front. But it's actually the best thing I could get in this village."<p>

When Tsume sent him a skeptical glance Leon looked away and added, "We don't get out much, obviously."

"How many people can fit in the front?" Kiba asked, looking to the human.

"Four, besides the driver."

Tsume scoffed, "So you expect two of us to freeze to death in the back?"

Leon's face flushed with shame, and when it was clear that the boy had no reply to the accusation, Kuri frowned at Tsume. "It's not that cold."

"At forty miles per hour, it would be." Tsume replied.

Leon shook his head at Kuri when she parted her lips to come to his defense once again, effectively silencing her. "I can bring out some tarps and blankets to help, but this is honestly the best I could do. And if the people in the back get too cold, we can stop along the way and switch. If we leave soon, the latest we'd get to the actual city would be around four, before it gets too cold, so… It's doable if you're up for it."

The pack exchanged glances, each of them apparently waiting for one of them to make the decision. Finally, Atra smiled at Leon. "I'll help you get the tarps."

"Me too." Kuri said with an equally reassuring smile. Leon looked at the two of them before his lips curled into a smile of his own, and he turned around, speaking to them in lower tones as he lead them back towards the house.

Tsume stared at them as they left before saying to the others, "Five to six hours with the guy. You really think that's a good idea?"

Toboe shrugged, "He seems nice enough."

"Well I'm not too keen on spending more time with a human that's seen what we really are." Tsume replied.

Hige scoffed, "You don't seem that keen on watching him spend more time with the ladies of the pack either." Tsume growled warningly at Hige, but the older wolf simply smirked at his attempt at intimidation. "You know, as much as you guys thought I'dbe the one affected by Atra and Kuri coming along with us, it kind of seems like things have gone the other way around."

"What are you going on about?" Tsume said his voice still edged with undertones of his recent growl.

"I'm saying that when Atra said you were jealous earlier, maybe she wasn't too far off the mark." Hige grinned wickedly, watching as Tsume's obvious annoyance spiked to an entirely new level.

Tsume turned to face him, his hands balled into fists at his sides. "You know, I get pissed off when you get a little too friendly with humans too. That doesn't mean I want to get into your pants."

Hige quirked up one eyebrow in mock suspicion. "Doesn't it?" Tsume made a move to lunge at him, and Hige threw up both hands in defense, moving back with a laugh. "Hey, relax, it was just a joke."

"I'm not in a joking mood." Tsume sneered, relaxing slightly. He spoke as Leon opened the door to the house, frowning as he made a show of allowing the girls to enter before him. "Whether it's you, me, or Snowflake over here getting distracted by the girls, it doesn't matter." Kiba looked up with a frown at the nickname, and though it gave Tsume a split second of satisfaction, he pressed on as if he hadn't noticed. "The fact is that we should have considered how much trouble they were going to be before we let them come along with us."

Toboe frowned up at him. "What do you mean?"

When Tsume didn't answer, Hige let out a laugh. "Oh I get it." He looked at Tsume with a smirk, "You sure you don't have a thing for them, Tsume? You've given this a lot of thought."

"Well someone in this pack has to." Tsume said shortly. When he saw that Kiba still had a puzzled look about him he chuckled dryly. "You ever been around a bitch in heat, kid?"

An embarrassed Kiba was far from a common occurrence, so both Tsume and Hige were pleasantly surprised to see a faint blush spread across Kiba's cheeks as a deeper one spread across Toboe's. Kiba being Kiba, however, he quickly recovered and scowled. "No. But I like to think I'd be able to control myself if I were."

Tsume laughed sharply. "Is that what you say to yourself before taking Atra out for moonlit strolls?"

Hige and Toboe started, with Hige exclaiming excitedly, "Woah, wait. What?"

"That's not what I was doing and you know it." Kiba said, obviously annoyed by the accusation. "We were… talking."

"That's how it all starts, isn't it?" Tsume scoffed. "Watch yourself, Snowflake. You can act all high and mighty for now, but when it comes right down to it, you're just as male as the rest of us here."

The boys' conversation was interrupted with the low sounds of camaraderie as Leon approached the pack with the girls in tow. Unseen by Leon, the boys' ears perked up as they turned to look at the group. All three of them were holding a bundle of cloth within their arms, though it didn't escape anyone's notice that Leon had the biggest burden by far.

As Leon and the girls approached them, Leon glanced up and noticed that they now had an audience to their conversation. Smiling, Leon moved to place a tarp across the bed of the truck. "Have you decided who's sitting where?"

Hige hummed thoughtfully, "Well, I gotta' say, I'm more of an interior man myself."

Tsume rolled his eyes, "You have enough fat to keep all of us warm. Why should you sit in the front?"

Hige pouted at the insult, saying dejectedly, "Yeah, well, I called it."

Leon laughed, smoothing down the tarp over the floor of the truck bed before walking to Kuri and taking the blankets in her arms. "Well I think the girls should definitely sit up front." Tsume turned his gaze to him, and Leon seemed to tense, his tone becoming a bit more cautious. He turned away, avoiding Tsume's eyes as he walked back to the truck and set the blankets down on the truck's open back door. "They can't go on thinking chivalry's dead, after all."

Kiba looked to Atra and Kuri before moving closer to Tsume's side. "I think he's right, actually. If anyone's sitting inside, it should be the Toboe and the girls."

Tsume glanced at him before looking at the three wolves in question. Grudgingly, he had to acknowledge that their builds would suffer more from the cold than anyone else in the pack. Finally, he crossed his arms and said firmly. "Then I'm sitting up front with them."

Hige blanched. "Hey, I called it!"

Tsume growled, fixing Hige with a glare. The two boys stared each other done for some moments before Hige relented, frowning. "Fine then. But this doesn't help your case!"

Kuri raised one eyebrow as she turned to Tsume. "What case?"

"None of your business." Tsume spat back before moving to the front passenger seat of the truck. Leon watched as he went, pretending to busy himself with the second tarp in his hands when Tsume seemed to turn his way. Leon then looked to Kuri and Atra, unsurprised to see Kuri glaring at Tsume's back. Atra turned to him with an apologetic smile, though there was no missing the crinkle of amusement at the corners of her eyes.

Finally, when Tsume made no move to close the truck door, Kuri huffed and walked over, loudly slamming it for him. Atra looked at her, now clearly amused. Kuri ignored her, walking back to her side and crossing her arms as she glared at the now closed truck door.

Leon cleared his throat then, attracting the attention of the rest of his guests. "Well now that that's over with, your blankets are here. I have another tarp I can put over you two to help a little with blocking out the wind. There's also a window in the back we'll keep open so you can tell us when either of you wants to switch."

Kiba nodded, "Sounds good."

Hige grimaced at the thought of spending so much time in the cold. "Yeah. Sounds great." Walking over to take the blankets Leon had beside him, Hige hopped up onto the truck bed and began to drape them over his legs. Sighing dramatically, Hige stretched out his arms across the wall of the truck bed and craned his neck up towards the sky. "Out of all the people I could have been stuck with, couldn't it have been one of the girls to help me keep warm?"

Leon let out a little chuckle, closing the door of the truck before beginning to pin the second tarp across the back of the truck. Atra laughed, saying teasingly, "Like either of us would have wanted to."

As the Kuri and Toboe moved to their own seats in the back, Kiba walked up to Atra and began to take the blankets from her hands. Atra smiled at him. "You sure you're gonna' be okay, Snowflake?"

Kiba paused, the blankets dropping back into the folds in Atra's arms as he looked up at her. Atra simply beamed up at him in a faux display of innocence. Taking the bait, Kiba repeated lowly. "Snowflake."

"Mhm. It's cute." Atra said, her smile widening briefly at Kiba's grimace before her expression turned to a curious one. "And why is Tsume telling you to watch yourself, exactly?"

Kiba scrutinized her, looking for any sign of her having heard the rest of the conversation before relaxing. "He says it to everyone; one of his rules to live by. Haven't you noticed?"

Atra made a soft sound of amusement. "You have such a strange sense of humor."

"Humor?" Kiba asked, feigning confusion. Atra met his eyes and Kiba fought to keep the slightest of smiles from crossing over his face before she sighed in defeat.

"Just take your damn blankets."

Kiba gave a small grin and ducked his head as he took the blankets from her arms, missing how Atra's eyes fell on him as he did. He didn't, however, miss how Leon's eyes flickered towards them, specifically Atra, as he worked on getting the tarp over the truck bed. He lowered his voice, "Be careful of what you say to him."

Atra sighed melodramatically, placing her hands on her hips once the last blanket was taken from her. "Yes, _dad_." When Kiba sneered at her display, she lowered her voice and said in a more serious tone, "I'm not going to be dishing out my life story to someone who keeps on looking at me like that. Though I'd like to know why he is in the first place."

Kiba nodded, glancing over at the human. "Just be careful." He paused before adding in a lighter tone, "And make sure Tsume doesn't kill him. At least while we're driving."

Atra laughed, "Understood. Let us know when we have to haul your asses out of the trunk."

Kiba chuckled softly, watching as she climbed into the backseat. He walked over and closed the door for her before he climbed up into the trunk. Leon waited for him, holding up the last flap up for him to get in before fastening it to the top of the truck.

Silently, Kiba got himself settled amongst the blankets, struggling a little to become comfortable between them all while a plastic sheet rustled across the top of his head. There was the rumble of the motor starting, and before long they were moving across the snow, the wind whistling along the flaps of the tarp and managing to creep in at every single one of its loose edges.

Kiba sighed quietly, sensing the tediousness of the journey ahead before he noticed the other wolf eyeing him archly. Kiba regarded him with a questioning look, and finally Hige let out a soft laugh. "So… moonlit strolls, huh?"


	10. Chapter 10

**Light Embracing Darkness: Chapter Ten**

**_The Countess D_**

* * *

><p>Pathetic. That was the only word that could capture the state humanity was in now. Quent could see it everywhere, whether it was in the streets or in the bars. But it had been a long time since he'd seen mankind's sorry state encapsulated so perfectly in such a tiny space.<p>

Blue whined a little beside him, and he frowned, petting her head gently until she laid it across his lap. A few beady eyes turned towards the action, quickly turning away as he raised his gaze to meet them.

In the dark of the railcar, there were only shapes in the shadows, masses that may or may not be human. A single sliver of light stretched over the length of the car, slipping in through the door they'd cracked open to make sure they didn't suffocate in the stench of sweat and misery. The light illuminated bits of cloth, hay, and hair. Quent narrowed his eyes towards the darkness in front of him.

To say he was uneasy was an understatement.

He reached into his coat pocket, silently apologizing to Blue as he disturbed her with the movement. After finding what he was looking for, he popped the flask open and tilted his head back to guzzle down what little whiskey he had left.

It burned on the way down, sending a feeling of being warmed right down to the tips of his toes. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve, noting that more than one shadow was watching him from across the aisle as he did so. The glints in their eyes were greedy and focused on the flask in his hand, betraying their silent request. Speaking to them, he said loudly. "Sorry. All I had left."

It was an explanation. On a deeper level, it was a warning. It wouldn't be the first time Quent had been jumped for a few drops of booze. Blue looked up at him from his lap in understanding before looking out into the shadows herself, relaxed at the moment, but completely prepared to protect her old man should the need arise.

No one bothered them after that. No one looked. All they could do was turn away and hope that they'd reach their destination, hope they'd find what they were looking for.

And all the bounty hunter and his dog could do was hope that those _they_ were looking for still had to be found. After all, it would be inconvenient if those wolves in sheep's clothing were part of the darkness, waiting predators in the barely distinct shadows that had slipped into the railcar beside them.

* * *

><p>It was a strange experience to feel the rush of movement without using a single muscle. Even stranger was to watch the world pass by, all white and empty, with only the hint of chill on the windows to remind those watching just how cold it really was outside.<p>

It was new, and it was certainly unsettling for Atra and Kuri at the very least. Tsume, on the other hand, had settled into a position of comfort in the passenger's seat almost as soon as the truck started moving. For the two sisters, the sound of the motor and feel of the wheels climbing over slopes and bumps in the snow reminded them of other times, when the feel of being around humans was truly foreign, and their trip to another city via motor vehicle was anything but a friendly gesture.

It had taken a while for them to find some semblance of security in the backseat of the truck, and the human driving them seemed to have noticed their discomfort and ignored its existence accordingly. Instead, he used his energy to engage Toboe and Tsume in small talk for a majority of their first hour out of the village.

As for Atra, there was nothing but darkness after that. She'd been lulled to sleep by the rocking of the truck and the low talk of those who inhabited it. It wasn't until sometime later until the very same rocking that had lulled her to sleep brought her back to consciousness, the glass of the truck's window chilled pleasantly against her forehead.

She opened her eyes and looked around, somewhat relieved to find that she hadn't been the only one that had dozed off. In fact, the only person that was awake with her at the moment seemed to be the driver himself.

Thankfully for her, he didn't seem to notice.

She let out a soft breath, deciding to make her consciousness known. Turning a little in her seat, she pulled Toboe a bit closer to her, arranging him to lie across her lap and Kuri's. Leon glanced up into the rearview mirror at the motion, chuckling under his breath. "Tsume says you two spoil him."

"Are you two friends now?" Atra said, smiling at him.

He snorted in reply. "Hardly."

Atra grinned in good humor before craning her neck to see the time on the dashboard. Leon spoke before she caught the slightest hint of it within her vision, "We're almost there. Within two hours, we should be at the city gates."

She nodded before looking out the windows on the opposite side of the truck. A railroad track stretched across the snow, though no train was in sight. Atra marveled at it for a moment, wondering how far and long they would have had to travel on foot to see such a thing. "Is that how you find your way?"

"Yes." Leon said smiling even as he kept his eyes focused on the landscape before him. "If you travel far enough to the Northeast, you see it in the snow. And from that point on you just follow it back to its city."

Atra nodded once more, and Leon glanced at her in the rearview mirror. "Hige and Kiba. Are they all right being back there for so long?"

"Kiba's determined to get to the city as quickly as possible. Hige makes a fuss but he'll suck it up if he needs to." Atra explained, "They'll be fine."

"You're not worried about them?"

Atra looked to Leon and smiled. "They're capable of taking care of themselves."

"I see." Leon murmured before putting his focus back on the drive. A silence settled over them, the only sounds in the truck being the whirr of the motor and the breathing of the wolves around them. Atra looked at the radio, wishing that the human would give into the quiet and simply flick it on, dispelling the unspoken questions between them.

But that would be too easy.

Sighing, Atra turned to the window, her lips puckered into the slightest hint of a pout. The sight outside was a conflicting one. Not exactly a winter wasteland, but empty all the same. She frowned. "So much snow."

"You don't like it?" Leon asked the question immediate.

"I almost died out there." She replied, regretting the words even as they left her lips. They were unnecessary, and certainly suspicious. Sourly, she began to wonder if Kiba's warning to her as she got into the truck was warranted after all.

But Leon, to her surprise, showed no sign of shock at her confession. "I'm not surprised." He hesitated before pressing on, "Winter, snow. Ever since the wars, it's hard not to see them as death itself."

"Wars." Atra echoed, threading her fingers through Toboe's hair.

"Its when all this started, you know. I'd heard that a long time ago, it didn't snow here. Or if it did, it was rare. But after the wars, winter never ended." Leon frowned, his expression somber, mournful. "When I was younger, visitors would come through telling us of tropical places, or just forests where the seasons were still intact or where there weren't any seasons at all, besides summer. As I got older, those visitors became harder to find. Everyone that came through our village was weary. Dead inside or dying. All because this winter, this December's spreading. And mankind can't do a thing. The world's so unforgiving now because we made it that way."

Atra stared at Leon, wondering at how such a jaded voice spilled so easily from a boy that couldn't be over twenty-five. She began to notice the bags under his eyes, the thin wrinkles across his skin. Then suddenly, he let out a bitter laugh. "I'm sorry. You live for so long in a place like this and your mind goes places."

"No. I know what you mean." She agreed, remembering how the snow had slowly crept towards her old home. It had touched the base of the mountain they lived on, she remembered, right before the end. And snow or not, it was ultimately the humans – and _only_ humans – that were to blame.

In what seemed to be a forced albeit lighter tone, Leon pressed on. "But you know, even though visitors that give us hope are harder to find, that doesn't mean that they don't exist." He smiled a little to himself. "Just this month there was a guy who came in. Sharp eyes, like he could see right through you. Around… Hige's age maybe."

"He told me about how he'd lost his home; how he'd lost this girl. Me and 'Ma would listen to him talk about her at the dinner table. About how she was passionate. Stubborn. How they'd butt heads whenever they were around each other. Said she was the best friend he'd ever had. He hadn't forgiven himself for losing her, and so… he was looking. He said he had no intentions of giving her up."

Atra listened silently, her heart clenching at the words. Leon smiled, still lost in the memory of the visitor. "Of course, 'Ma and I knew that using 'best friends' to describe their relationship might have been an understatement, at least for him. But either way, it's hard to see that kind of devotion in anyone. But this guy… He was just one of those people you could see searching to the ends of the Earth just to find what he wants, you know?"

"I know." Atra said, noting that one of those very 'people' was currently in the truck bed right then and there. She looked towards the windshield, taking a deep breath of relief when she saw a cityscape growing on the horizon. "Whatever happened to that guy?"

And while Leon had been smiling very warmly at the memory of his visitor, suddenly the curves of his lips became stiff, forced. "The last we saw of him, he was traveling with a group of soldiers. He promised he'd make it a point to pass through the village again in three days time." He hesitated, the curl of his lips lowering until they were simply pressed into a fixed line. "He never came back."

* * *

><p>"Oi. Wake up. You've spent enough time sleeping in some human's backseat, it's time to <em>move<em>."

Kuri stirred against the leather seats, scowling at such a rude awakening. Opening one eye, she sent the strongest glare she could muster at Tsume before sitting up and stretching, her arms raised above her head as high as possible before hitting the roof of the truck.

She shook her head before looking around, noticing that Toboe was still asleep across the backseat, the other wolves mulling around against its exterior. The human Tsume was referring to, however, was nowhere to be seen. "Where's Leon?"

"Inside."

"Where's 'inside?'" Kuri said, turning her (albeit weak) glare back to Tsume. The perpetual scowl that resided on his lips seemed to deepen before he took a deep breath.

"A hotel. Leon took it upon himself to call a few friends he had in the city and get us two bedrooms for the night. I had to all but throttle him to make sure he didn't stay the night."

Kuri frowned in distaste, though she couldn't help but agree that having Leon stay another night with them would be a risky move. So while she'd told herself she'd be happy to find an excuse to stay angry at Tsume after the events of that morning, she couldn't deny that urging Leon to go back home was the best decision. "I'm surprise you didn't force him to take back the favor altogether."

"I would have. But he promised a free meal for the night, and even your sister didn't seem to want to pass that up."

"My sister?" Kuri said, looking at him confusedly.

Tsume nodded before leaning against the frame of the truck, looking over to her. "They were chatting it up earlier. Sounded like they bonded pretty well." Kuri let out a soft 'oh' in acknowledgement before turning back to the pup across her lap, watching him sleep.

As she turned, Tsume couldn't help but notice a rustle in her fur past the layer that the humans could see. There were those scars again, souvenirs of what little time she'd spent in the Zali's city. Tsume frowned, his gaze softening slightly as it traveled over them. For once it was the scars, not the girl herself that was beginning to make his blood boil. "Do they hurt?"

Kuri jumped subtly, though not unnoticeably at the sudden address, turning to Tsume with slightly wide eyes. "What?"

"Your scars. Do they still bother you?" Tsume clarified, though the words only seemed to confuse the she-wolf further. She stared at him, her expression changing from confused, to surprised, to disbelieving in an impressively short span of time. Tsume fidgeted before looking away, refusing to believe that the look this girl was giving him was what had caused heat to flood his cheeks. "I'm only asking because you're taking so damn long to get out of the car."

Kuri pouted at the less than sensitive turn in the conversation before roughly kicking Tsume out of her way. Tsume grunted as he moved to the side, watching as Kuri stepped out of the truck. She turned to him, her tone cooler than the one she usually used to bicker with him. "They're fine. Definitely not as bad as the headache I get when you're around."

Tsume watched as she walked around him, looking past her human layer once more to see her tail held high in haughty triumph as she walked away. In spite of himself, he let out a dry laugh.

Kuri walked towards the other wolves, not failing to notice that they all had been more or less watching her display with Tsume. Ignoring the entertained expressions on Hige and even Kiba's faces, she leaned against the truck beside Atra. "I heard that you were talking with Leon."

Atra looked at her, her smile suddenly wavering. Hige looked over with a look of mock surprise. "You didn't tell us that. Are you flirting with the humans now, Atra?"

"Not quite." She replied simply, rebuffing his teasing easily. Hige seemed startled, or at least unprepared for such a calm reply, and Atra allowed herself a few moments of satisfaction in watching him struggle for a response. She then looked over at the next wolf beside him, unsurprised when she caught the curiosity in Kiba's eyes.

But before any of them could speak again, a familiar voice called out from the entrance of the motel. "Not quite what?" They looked over to see Leon approaching them with a grin. "Talked to the owners and they have your rooms all set on the third floor. Dinner's at eight so you have a good couple of hours of rest."

"Which rooms?" Tsume asked, still hovering about the door Kuri had climbed out of minutes earlier.

"305 and 306. They're across the hall from each other." Leon said.

Tsume nodded before leaning into the truck, gathering Toboe in his arms. The pup stirred a little, and as subtly as possible, Tsume rocked him in his arms to lull him back to sleep. Kuri watched them from the other side of the truck, her eyes following them even as the wolves beside her began to say their goodbyes.

"Well, Ms. Kuri. Your room key." Leon's voice drew her back to those around her, and Kuri turned to find the human looking at her with a tender smile. He extended a hand towards her, a keycard delicately held between two fingers and Kuri took it gratefully, smiling warmly at the boy. "I hope you all find what you're looking for. Whatever it is."

"Thank you." She said gratefully, noticing that Kiba and Hige had already begun walking up to their rooms. "I hope you have a safe trip back home."

Leon nodded at her before gesturing the sisters to walk into the hotel ahead of them. He followed them, escorting them through the hotel's entrance and pausing five steps through the door. While Kuri walked on, Atra waited until she was out of sight before looking at Leon. "His name was Fox, wasn't it? The visitor that stayed with the soldiers."

The human looked at her in surprise for a moment before lowering his voice, "How'd you know?"

"I don't see why you would tell me that story otherwise." Atra said, shrugging. Cracking a smile of her own, she added flippantly, "And the way you told it made it pretty obvious. Plus, I doubt there are many other girls named Atra out there." Atra said with a sigh, walking towards one of the chairs in the lobby before plopping herself down on its cushions.

Leon let out a small laugh, running a hand through his hair and moving closer to her. "Did you know he was still alive? After what happened to your home, I mean."

Atra hesitated before answering honestly, "No. I didn't."

Leon nodded, considering his words before simply saying, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Said Atra, thinking back to Leon's words in the car. _He never came back_. She frowned, "Nothing's changed, anyway."

Leon looked at her with sympathy in his eyes before looking in the direction Kuri had walked. "She knew him too, didn't she?" Atra didn't respond, simply watching as realization dawned on him. "You don't want her to know there's a chance he might still be out there."

Atra frowned before saying quietly, "We have enough false hope as it is." Leon looked at her questioningly, but Atra's gaze didn't stray from the space in front of her. "Giving any of us more hope over some boy the soldiers took prisoner isn't going to help any of us." Finally, she shook her head and pushed herself off the chair.

"Thank you." She said, looking up at Leon before clarifying, "For telling me that he was looking for me, that is."

Leon frowned before nodding slowly. Atra gave him a weak smile before trying to move past him. Leon placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her. "What are you going to do?"

Atra looked at the boy, the concern in his eyes making him ever more endearing to her. She smiled a bit wider. "I can't just wait for him." Leon seemed to deflate at the words, and Atra sighed, gently shrugging his hand off her shoulder. "But I'll keep an eye out."

Leon nodded, seeming a little reassured at her words. Finally, he took a step back. "Good luck." Atra nodded in thanks, and they stood there looking at each other before Leon turned to walk out of the hotel.

She watched as he started up his truck, watched as he drove away until he turned a corner and slipped out of sight. Once that last reminder of him and the information he brought to her was gone, all the breath in her lungs escaped her in a rush of air.

Despite the rest she'd had over the past two days, Atra felt nothing but exhaustion. She leaned her head back, looking up at the ceiling of the hotel lobby as she considered what she'd heard within the past couple of hours. Finally, she'd gathered enough of her thoughts to realize that Kuri and the rest of the group were waiting in their rooms upstairs.

Turning away from the entrance, she began to follow the path Kuri had taken earlier towards the elevators only to find that her sister had reappeared around the corner, and was staring straight at her. Instantly, Atra knew that she'd heard everything.

* * *

><p>The door closed with a slam as Kuri entered the room. Atra watched her with cool detachment, settling onto one of the beds available in the room as Kuri paced across the floor. It had been an interesting development, watching Kuri's expression change from one of disbelief to hurt and then to anger during the elevator ride up. She'd been silent the entire way, but as soon as they'd reached the third floor, Atra could tell that her sister was livid. At the back of her mind, she found the inevitable argument between them almost funny, as if their tempers were proof that they were actually related.<p>

Kuri drew Atra from her musings with a sudden, sharp accusation. "You weren't even going to tell me."

Atra took a deep breath, drawling as she leaned back against the sheets, "You know it's rude to eavesdrop."

"Fox was _our_ pack mate. He's someone _we_ knew." Kuri exclaimed, the volume of her voice escalating. Atra glanced at the door, wondering just how thin the walls really were. "I have a right to know about what's happened to our pack, especially if one of the wolves is out there _looking_ for us as we speak—"

Atra let out a dry, harsh laugh, pushing herself off the bed to sit up once more, glaring at Kuri as her voice rose to match hers. "Whoever said _as we speak_? Leon met him with a bunch of soldiers. He said he would visit again and never came back. What world do you come from where soldiers like the ones we met in the last city leave _any_ prisoners behind?"

Kuri quieted, seemingly taken aback by this new information. Atra glared at her for a bit longer before looking away, muttering under her breath, "Just like you to jump to conclusions."

Just when Atra thought Kuri might let the whole thing go, however, she spoke again. "But Leon doesn't know that he's really dead."

Atra looked at her sister with a frown, not sure if she'd heard her correctly. "What?"

"He doesn't _know_ that he's dead, right?" Kuri asked a bit louder, determination in her eyes. Atra looked at her in disbelief and Kuri shook her head, "You say I'm jumping to conclusions. How are you any better?"

"It makes more sense—"

"Who cares about making sense?" Kuri yelled suddenly, her frustration clear in her tone. "Sense is all you care about nowadays. Out of the two of us, I'd think that the one that would care most about Fox is you, but you're just throwing him away—"

"Who's throwing anyone away?" Atra yelled, standing up suddenly. "If anyone's throwing away our old pack, it's _you_! For something that isn't even—" But Kuri continued yelling over her, drowning out her words.

"All because some human says he might or might not be dead!" She let out an uncharacteristically sardonic laugh, rolling her eyes. "But why not, right? I mean, now that you're too good for Paradise, why bother with the wolf that made you fall in love with it in the first place, right?"

Atra flinched, her voice wavering, "Kuri!"

"No, you know what Atra, that's fine. Leave me out of the loop when stuff like this comes up. It's not like you're not planning to throw me to the side later on anyway, right?" Kuri snapped, turning to Atra with a sarcastic, bitter smile flashing across her face.

Atra stiffened, blankly staring at Kuri. Her deal with Kiba ran through her mind, the talk of finding a safe city, the talk of leaving her behind returned to her with such a force that any and all words escaped her. There was a flash of hurt in Kuri's eyes before she looked away, muttering under her breath. "Figures… You always run."

Atra shook her head, allowing her to catch a glimpse of herself in the mirror and immediately hate how the human shell she wore had tears rolling down her cheeks. "I meant to tell you."

"Well obviously I already knew, deep down. It's not like anything's changed." Kuri said stiffly. Another dark laugh escaped her, "It's not like you were there when everything went to hell with our old pack either, were you?"

"Kuri, that's not fair!" Atra exclaimed, her voice cracking slightly.

"No it's not." Kuri said simply before turning another glare on Atra. "Because you were with Fox that time, weren't you? But I guess we're right back to where we started."

A silence settled on the two sisters as they looked at each other, until finally there was a knock at the door. Atra glanced at it before turning away, walking to the opposite side of the room. Kuri watched her go with a soft scoff before she opened it, finding Hige, Tsume, and Kiba waiting outside.

Hige rubbed the back of his head as he chuckled nervously. "Hey. We heard some yelling. Uh… is everything all right here?"

Kuri glanced at Atra behind her before turning back to them, not bothering to mask her anger when she answered with a curt, "Fine." She pushed through the wolves into the hall, turning towards the elevators. "I'm going to explore the city before dinner. I'll be back later."

Hige looked after her in confusion. "But… Wait! Uh…"

Tsume shook his head, muttering before taking off after her, "I'll make sure she doesn't do anything stupid."

Hige sighed, watching the two wolves turn the corner. "What's going on around here?"

Kiba glanced at him before looking into the room, watching as Atra took a seat on the floor, her back against the bed and hair falling in a curtain to obstruct his and Hige's view of her face. There was no subtle scent of salt, but Kiba had a hunch that there would be tears on the cheeks of Atra's human guise nonetheless. He frowned, looking to the wolf beside him. "Hige."

Hige turned to him, "Yeah?"

"Why don't you go watch Toboe?"

Hige looked at him for a moment before looking at Atra. The corner of his mouth twitched as his eyes brightened in realization. "All right then." He gave Kiba a meaningful look, his tone betraying a more suggestive meaning behind his words. "You take good care of her."

Kiba shot him a glare. "Just go." The corner of Hige's lips twitched once more before he shrugged and turned on his heel, walking to the room across the hall. Kiba watched him, scowling when he noticed he'd left the door cracked open just enough to let their conversation be heard. Promptly, Kiba stepped into Atra and Kuri's room and closed the door.

Kiba allowed himself a moment to smirk in triumph when a very muffled curse of disappointment sounded from across the hall before he turned his attention to the she-wolf seated on the hotel floor. He walked towards her, asking gently, "Are you all right?"

Atra nodded, reluctantly pulling back her hair to confirm Kiba's earlier suspicions. Her eyes were red and puffy, the wet tracks down her cheeks fresh. She laughed, the sound ringing of false cheer in Kiba's ears, before saying, "Humans are too expressive. I can't even wipe these things away, with the way this illusion thing works."

Kiba frowned as he looked at her, knowing that while their human disguises were expressive, they were very accurate indicators of how they were actually feeling inside. He studied Atra, sympathy in his eyes.

Atra fidgeted a little under his gaze before pointedly avoiding it, looking to the wall instead. "You know, there are legends about wolves turning into humans. Or humans turning into wolves… Not illusions, but actually shape shifting. I wouldn't be surprised if some of our kind were mistaken for that sort of thing before—"

Atra quieted as Kiba slipped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her tight against him before pressing his lips to the crown of her head. Atra stilled in his arms, shocked momentarily by the act before she relaxed, lowering her head to rest on his shoulder as her human shell cried against him.

For a while, Kiba simply held her, nuzzling her from time to time when a distressed shudder ran through her frame. Finally, he spoke, his breath blowing gently across her ear and causing a shiver to run through her that had nothing to do with sorrow. "What happened?"

Atra thought this over, blinking for a few moments before she let out a shaky laugh. "Well… I told her about our deal."


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: **So obviously my whole updating every three weeks thing died soon after I arrived at college. _But _summer's approaching for me (I will be officially done with my freshman year next Tuesday!) and my muse is aching to get some action. That being said, I will definitely be actively updating my fics this summer! Hopefully I'm welcomed back and I haven't lost too many of my old readers. :)

Enjoy the chapter!

* * *

><p><strong>Light Embracing Darkness: Chapter Eleven<strong>

_The Countess D_

* * *

><p>Dealing with an angry female was a task that all species dreaded; or so Tsume would assume. Kuri certainly wasn't giving him any reason to think otherwise as she stepped into the elevator, pointedly ignoring Tsume's calls to hold the door as she pushed the one button that did the exact opposite.<p>

He'd expected as much.

Tsume growled under his breath before looking to a door to the stairs further down the hallway. He walked quickly towards it, pushing it open and glancing every which way to make sure there weren't any witnesses before he leapt over the railings to the lower floors. By the time he'd opened the entrance to the ground floor, Kuri's elevator had yet to arrive.

He smirked, posing smugly in front of the elevator to make sure he was there to greet Kuri on her arrival. He didn't have to wait long before a loud 'ding' announced just that, and the doors slid open to reveal just the wolf he'd been looking for. He crossed his arms, saying haughtily, "Did you really think it would be that easy?"

To his surprise, however, Kuri didn't even bother to look at him, instead pushing past him and heading straight to the hotel exit. "This isn't any of your business."

Tsume faltered as he turned to watch her go, though it didn't take long for him to scowl at her words. He walked after her, staying close behind, "If you don't want us to get involved, don't be so damn dramatic."

"I didn't ask you to get involved." Kuri spat, turning her head to glare at him. Her pace increased, and Tsume accelerated in turn.

"With the show you just put on, you didn't need to!" Tsume spat back. Kuri scoffed ahead of him, and Tsume finally let out a groan of frustration before matching his pace with hers and moving to her side. "Where the hell do you plan to go anyway?"

"Right now? Away from you."

"Yeah, great, I get that. I hope you know that's not going to happen." He replied, completely unfazed. Distractedly, he looked at the sidewalks around him and found, to his relief, only a few humans that were staring at them dumbly from the sidelines. Kuri, occupied with her murderous thoughts against him (and presumably her sister) had yet to notice any of them.

Suddenly, Tsume felt himself being pulled into a nearby alley with a show of strength he wouldn't have expected Kuri to have. He looked at the wolf in question, disgruntled and amazed at how easily she'd manhandled him, but before he could express any sort of sentiment on this matter, she blurted out, "Why are you still _here_?"

Tsume grit his teeth, walking forward to tower over the girl. "I'm _here_ to make sure that you don't do anything stupid."

"Well I can take care of myself." Kuri said back without missing a beat. Turning on her heels, she ran towards the high chain link fence that halved the length of the alley, leaping and balancing precariously on the metal before jumping once more to a nearby ledge. Tsume watched her scale the buildings, swearing under his breath before following her movements.

When his feet landed on the rooftop of one of the buildings lining the alley, Kuri was already running across it, getting ready to leap to the next one. Tsume chased after her, overtaking her and turning to block her path just before the point she would have had to jump in order to make the leap.

Kuri scowled, taking a step back. Knowing her game by now, Tsume quickly grabbed her wrist, pulling her just close enough to yell in her face. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

When Kuri didn't answer, Tsume calmed himself, though there was no mistaking the undertone of fury in his voice. "The entire time you've been with us, you've been complaining about my fucked up attitude, and the one time I try to look out for you and make sure you don't get yourself _killed_ because of some stupid argument you had with your sister, you act like I'm doing something wrong!"

Kuri glared defiantly up at Tsume as he spoke to her, tugging her wrist in an attempt leave. Tsume's grip tightened, and unconsciously he pulled her even closer. His eyes met hers, his glare more intense than Kuri had ever seen it, but stubbornly she refused to back down.

They stood on the rooftop, neither of them willing to yield to the other. Finally, Tsume spoke with a calm and disturbingly quiet fury. "I never thought you could be so stupid."

There was a beat as Kuri's eyes widened, her defiance faltering as the disappointment in his simple statement reached her ears. Tsume watched as hurt flashed over her expression, her eyes suddenly brimming with unshed tears.

Kuri tugged at her wrist once more, and Tsume let it go, watching as she visibly began to relax. Though Tsume was almost strangely pleased to see that a hint of indignation was still present in her manner. While the pout on her face as she turned away from him made it clear that while she wasn't likely to run anymore, her arms lifting to automatically cross over her chest indicated that she still wasn't making any promises to be compliant. Inwardly, Tsume chuckled. Kuri was certainly something else.

He watched her as she walked closer to the edge of the roof, looking out into the city, crossing his arms before saying, "What was it all about?"

Kuri looked at him out of the corner of her eye, wondering where to begin. Finally, she settled on the root of the problem, shaking her head a little as the words slipped past her lips. "She found out that one of our old pack mates was looking for us. She wasn't going to tell me."

Tsume was quiet for a moment as he considered how to approach the situation. Then, in his typical manner, he scoffed. "That's it?"

"No." Kuri said indignantly, crossing her arms and turning her glare on the city itself.

"Well then hurry up and get to the point."

"I'm trying!" Kuri exclaimed exasperatedly, her fists clenching against her ribcage as she fought to control her temper. "In the truck Leon said something about a visitor to his village that was looking for a girl he once knew. When we got to the hotel, Atra pulled him aside and asked if she was right in thinking that the man was looking for her. Turns out the guy was this wolf we used to be close to in the pack. Strong, loyal, a good friend. Someonewe both cared about. But Leon said something about—"

"Him disappearing with the soldiers." Tsume finished for her. Kuri turned to him quizzically and he smirked, "They woke me up on the way here. Sounded boring, so I went back to sleep. Anyway, I was wondering what the hell they were talking about." He gave a little shrug, refocusing the conversation. "So Atra thought he was dead."

Kuri nodded. "She said that Leon telling her about it didn't change anything. She didn't want to look for him." She paused before finishing bitterly, "She thinks he's dead."

Tsume considered her words before grunting lowly. "Makes sense."

Kuri let out a sound of disgust, throwing her hands up in the air. "What makes sense isn't the point. The point is she wasn't even going to _try _to look for him. You can't just let something like that go if there's a chance that you'll find them again!"

"Actually, you can." Tsume said bluntly. He met Kuri's eyes before walking to the edge of the rooftop and leaning against the short wall that lined the perimeter of the roof, looking far beyond the city to see where the sun was just barely skirting across the length of the horizon. "This world isn't easy to live in. People like to believe that everything works out in the end, but in the end, everyone just ends up dead. Before then, life throws as many curveballs that it can."

Kuri huffed, "And you think this is a curveball?"

Tsume shrugged, "False hope is easy to cling to. You can never be too careful."

"Right. So everyone should become pessimists like you." Kuri replied skeptically.

Unseen to her, Tsume rolled his eyes. "They might be better off for it if they did. People who are optimistic are only fooling themselves." He glanced at her over his shoulder, "Do what you can to stay alive and be realistic. Best way to keep from getting hurt, physically and emotionally."

He turned back to the city, and it didn't take long for Kuri to lean up against the wall beside him. A thoughtful frown had settled into her expression. "You and Atra sound a lot alike sometimes."

"Well maybe she's smarter than I thought she was." Tsume said with a small smirk.

"I'm not saying that's a good thing." Kuri said sharply. Tsume looked at her and she explained, "Back in our pack, she didn't care about what was and wasn't possible, or probable, or whatever you want to call it. She always wanted something better for us, and was determined to get it, no matter what. Ever since she was born."

Kuri's frown deepened, her gaze clouding as she continued to speak. "The wolf that's been looking for her was the same way. They were always together, always talking about how they were going to bring us all to Paradise."

Tsume started, looking at Kuri in disbelief. "To Paradise? Atra did?"

She nodded, "Atra ate the stories up. She talked about flowers and moons and maidens like it was nothing. Made plans for all of us like it was actually going to happen. In the end, she wanted to go off and search for it with Fox—"

"Fox?" Tsume asked suddenly.

Kuri blinked as if not understanding his question before she realized the reason for his confusion. She explained briefly, "The wolf Leon saw."

Tsume stared at her, mouthing the name again skeptically. Kuri gave a weak smile and nodded, watching with some amusement as Tsume shook his head and turned back to his city, repeating the name to himself once more in disgust.

"Well…" Kuri began. Shaking her head, she picked up where she left off. "One day Fox told her that he'd found a lead. Or at the very least, he'd found something he wanted to show her. It was the day our pack was destroyed."

Tsume looked at her as she continued, her gaze clouding once more as she looked towards the ground below them. "We fought about that too, earlier. How she wasn't there. By the time she came back then most of us had been taken away." She sighed, her eyes turning towards the setting sun as she continued. "I don't think I've ever forgiven her for that. I don't know if I ever will."

Tsume was quiet as he processed what Kuri had told him, both of their eyes turned towards the sunset as they mulled over their own thoughts. Finally, he said, "That's a little selfish, to me. Understandable, but selfish."

Kuri turns towards him, the surprise at the accusation clearly in her expression. Tsume looked at her and scoffed. "Do you think that Atra's forgiven herself for that day either? Or that she knew what was going to happen once she left? If there wasn't any reason to suspect that something was going to go horribly wrong, then I don't think Atra's at fault for leaving right when you needed her. It was just bad timing."

"And no," Tsume clarified as Kuri's mouth opened to reply, "I'm not saying that you're _wrong_ about being angry that she wasn't there. But being angry at the _fact_ that she wasn't there and being angry at _her_ isn't really the same thing. And either way, at this point it's something that couldn't be helped."

Kuri stared at him before saying in disbelief, "You're on her side."

"I'm not taking any sides." Tsume said, looking at her pointedly out of the corner of his eye. "I'm just telling you how I see things. Your sister…" Uncharacteristically, Tsume fumbled for words, turning back out towards the city before saying softly, "It's not like she deserted you. Trust me. I know what that looks like."

Kuri's brow crinkled in mild curiosity at Tsume's suddenly somber tone. "All right." She said before her tone strengthened in another challenge. "So Atra isn't at fault for leaving me then. What about now?"

Tsume turned to her. "Now?"

Kuri's expression darkened even as a triumphant smile had spread across her face. "She's been planning to leave me with all of you. We found each other and we're searching for the same place that she wanted to find in the first place, but she still wants to leave." Her smile became a tad too bright, the lilt in her voice a bit too cheerful as she spoke. "But yeah. I guess it's just 'bad timing.'"

Tsume scoffed, "I don't buy it."

Immediately, Kuri's triumphant expression changed to one of disbelief. "What do you mean you don't buy it?"

"Maybe she _plans_ on leaving but I doubt she'll be able to go through with it. Like you said, she has you now. And if she really was going to ditch you, she's had plenty of opportunities. If she's stalling now, it's going to take a damn good reason for her to actually leave." Tsume said with a shrug. He watched as Kuri turned away from him, obviously insulted by his supposed bias to her sister. Finally, he said, "She really told you she was going to leave?"

"Yes." Kuri replied easily before a frown crossed her face. "Well… actually, no. She was quiet. But she didn't say she _wasn't_ going to leave either."

Tsume gave her a smug look. "Well that's cute."

"What is?" Kuri exclaimed, now definitely insulted.

"How stubborn you are. If you're going to be angry at someone, you should make sure you have an actual reason." He paused, correcting himself before Kuri raised another argument, "Or at least, make sure the reasons you have are solid."

"You…" Kuri started before quickly falling silent. Her struggle to find an argument clearly played across her face before she finally gave a huff of defeat and turned away. Tsume watched her for a few moments before lifting a hand, awkwardly hovering it above her before settling it on the crown of her head. Kuri stiffened beneath it, but didn't make a move to pull away.

"Hey." Kuri's ears perked up, turning subtly in his direction. Embarrassingly, a rush of heat warmed her cheeks. Tsume's voice had quieted again, the tone low and almost _intimate_. She fidgeted beneath his hand, struggling to keep herself from turning back to him as he continued.

"Do you know how lucky you are? Out of all of us, you and Atra are the only ones that have someone from their real packs. You have someone you grew up with, someone who understands what you've gone through and where you're coming from. A lot of wolves would kill for that. Especially in the world we live in."

She frowned, relaxing into his touch just as she began to really listen to his words. Realizing that the she-wolf was finally compliant, Tsume used the hand perched on her head to grasp her shoulder and guide her until they were face to face once more. "Atra didn't tell you about another wolf from your pack? Having her should be enough. Atra's thinking about leaving you with us? Make her stay. And if she doesn't…" He hesitated, seeming to have conflicting ideas about what he was about to say before he finished firmly. "You have us. And we may not be enough to replace a sister, but I can at least promise you that if it comes to that we'll try."

Kuri stared at him, her eyes widening just a fraction as she realized just how long Tsume had been standing on this rooftop with her, not just talking to her but _listening_; not to mention actually giving her advice that made sense. It was a whole new side to the Tsume that always seemed to be scowling in the distance, stubbornly dedicated to doing things his own way and acting as if any other option were a nuisance in itself. It was… sensitive. Understanding. And a whole other slew of adjectives that Kuri never would have pinned to Tsume before except in satire.

Tsume shifted under her stare, clearing his throat before backing away. Kuri straightened as the weight of his hand was removed from her shoulders, her skin that had rested beneath it suddenly cold. Uncomfortably, Tsume cleared his throat and made a show of surveying the city. "We should head back now. Everyone must be wondering where we are."

Kuri nodded numbly, touching her hair as she gazed at his hands. Confused by her silence, Tsume turned to her and arched an eyebrow, questioning.

She looked up at him and smiled. "Thank you, Tsume." Kuri watched as his eyes widened slightly at the words, the tone she uttered them different than any other tone she'd used with him before. After a moment of studying his shock, Kuri reverted back to taunting playfulness as her small smile grew into an impish grin. "I didn't know you could be so reasonable."

He blanched, seeming to be fighting the urge to glare and scowl at her like always before he realized that she was simply teasing him. Relaxing a bit, he muttered, "Yeah, yeah. Well it seems like I can think better when the bitch that nags me is yelling at someone else for once."

Kuri laughed suddenly, the sound free and light, before playfully hitting Tsume's arm. "Shut up. You deserve every bit of it."

Tsume rolled his eyes before smiling, _really smiling_ at her. Thankfully, he didn't notice that as soon as he did, Kuri had started gaping at him all over again. "Well I never said I didn't like it either."

As he turned back to look down at the city, a soft sound of surprise escaped him. Kuri frowned and walked over towards him. "What is it?"

Tsume leaned forward slightly, staring intently at a point on the city streets. "That's…"

"That's who?" Kuri asked, leaning further out off the roof.

Tsume grabbed her collar and roughly pulled her back. He moved with her, hoping that they were both far away enough from the edge of the building to escape the notice of those in the streets below. "Stay quiet." He warned, holding her close as he considered their options. He cursed quietly before looking at the rooftops around them. "We'll have to travel across the roofs to get back."

"Tsume, what's going on?" Kuri asked, a hint of worry beginning to plague her and her pulse beginning to quicken.

He growled under his breath before guiding Kuri to the right side of the building. "Old friend. Make sure you're not seen. We need to warn the others."

Down in the streets, blue eyes peered up towards the rooftops, their owner certain that two shadows had just slipped from view.

Her old man tugged at Blue's leash. After such a long ride with a railcar full of bums, to say he'd worked up a thirst was an understatement. "Come on, girl. Let's see if there's a bar in this town."

He walked, only to stop short when he realized Blue was refusing to budge. He turned to look at her before following her gaze up to the rooftops. Then, like a quiet rolling thunder, Blue began to growl low in her chest.

Quent stared before his features were twisted into a dark, anticipatory grin. "Well. That was quick."


	12. Chapter 12

**Light Embracing Darkness: Chapter Twelve**

_The Countess D_

* * *

><p>Kiba looked down at the girl beside him, the rise and fall of her chest deep and even in sleep. Her mouth was pressed into a line, her brow wrinkled as if she was deep in thought. She was wide open, defenseless, and even if she was awake, Kiba was sure she wouldn't have the will to protect herself against a threat either way. So he'd stayed, guarded her as she slept, using her vulnerability (though not quite guiltlessly) to study her instead.<p>

He peered down at her, his eyes scrutinizing every detail of her human face. The tracks of her tears, the puffiness her eyes – he knew neither were real. They were just projections of what she felt, a trick to get humans to sympathize with her if one ever happened to walk in. A wolf wouldn't be able to empathize based on such an illusion; or at least, a wolf shouldn't.

And yet…

He turned away, glaring at the space before him as he decided that as _human_ as Atra appeared to be, any sign of her distress still unsettled him in a way he hadn't anticipated. Granted, he'd comforted the female before, and he'd spent more than one instance being the one causing her distress in the first place. But he'd never seen Atra – stubborn, headstrong Atra, so hurt as to actually cause her human projection to _cry_.

And more than that, he still didn't know what Kuri had said to hurt her so badly in the first place. Atra had admitted to telling Kuri about their deal, but had waved away any and all of Kiba's attempts to learn more.

"It's nothing I can't handle." She'd said, giving him a smile that was evident on her lips but not in her eyes. No; all those expressed was exhaustion and… guilt. It was clear that Atra didn't just believe she could handle whatever words Kuri had thrown at her; she believed that she'd deserved them as well.

But just what sort of rebuke she'd deserved, she remained tight lipped on. And so Kiba had simply held her until the exhaustion in her eyes won out and she drifted off to sleep.

So why did it bother him so much – the fact that Atra wasn't volunteering information as easily as she had in the past? She was certainly entitled to as much privacy as the rest of them, and quite frankly, Kiba could care less about the rest of them. So what made this wolf, as much trouble as she was, so different?

Unconsciously, Kiba gave a little growl of frustration. Atra shifted beside him, the crease in her brow deepening before her eyes opened to see the wolf sitting quietly beside her. "You're still here."

Kiba started at the sound of her voice before he turned to look down at her. The scowl that had been on his face flickered away, an apologetic smile taking its place. "Sorry. Did I wake you?"

She shook her head, peering up at him with curiosity in her still sleepy eyes. Kiba gazed back at her, a little curious himself as to what she could find so fascinating about him in her half-slumbering state before she said simply, "You can leave, if you want."

Kiba let out brief, breathy laugh at her suggestion. "Why would I want to?"

Atra shrugged, raising her arms over her head and stretching across the bed. Kiba watched the display before averting his eyes at the very first spark of intrigue the image initiated. The sheets rustled beneath her as she arched her back, holding her muscles taut before relaxing with a little shake of the head. "I don't know. You looked… annoyed when I woke up."

Kiba pressed his lips into a thin line at her suggestion, silently rolling her words over in his mind. Finally, he replied honestly, "I was."

She stilled beside him, their breathing the only sound in the room as she processed his words. When she spoke again, her tone was light and forced. "I thought so." She sat up and looked at him with another false smile. "You know, you don't have to worry so much. I can handle this on my own."

Kiba turned to her with a stony expression before saying in a clipped tone, "That's just it." He watched as Atra's smile was replaced with a look of confusion, and his expression softened in kind. "You don't _need_ to handle this on your own."

Atra stared at Kiba, apparently at a loss for words before she finally looked away. Kiba let out a quiet sigh and leaned against the headboard, examining her across the small space she'd put between them. "There was more to your fight with Kuri. Something you're not telling me."

"I don't want…" Atra's voice cracked, and she seemed to take a moment to compose herself before finishing, "I don't want to tell you."

"Why not?" Kiba asked almost immediately, the words unbidden.

"Because I don't want you to know." Atra said just as quickly, her voice beginning to become edged with irritation.

He frowned, fighting the inexplicable urge to reach over the distance and simply make Atra face him. Instead, he repeated himself, the words still gentle, still patient as they hung in the air. "Why not?"

Atra turned to him and fixed him with a tired glare. Unfazed, Kiba held it with his own patient gaze, waiting until she finally gave way. Her response was so soft that Kiba wasn't entirely sure it was real. "It wouldn't be the same."

Kiba's eyes bored into her at the simple response, the layer of vulnerability just beneath the surface of her words not escaping his notice. Before he knew it, he'd crossed the space between them, his hand falling onto Atra's shoulder.

The she-wolf tensed under his touch, her eyes lifting up to meet his for a moment before looking away. Kiba frowned, "Atra. Look at me." He watched as Atra ignored his order before beginning to growl lowly in his chest. At the sound, Atra acquiesced and looked up, her expression obstinate but her scent all embarrassment and anxiety. He held her gaze evenly, noting the sound of her breath quickening ever so slightly as he did.

When Atra finally relaxed under his touch and Kiba was confident that she wouldn't turn away, he said quietly, "What wouldn't be the same?"

There was a shift in Atra's expression, a twist in the curve of her mouth as her determination to stay silent on the matter ebbed away. "You wouldn't…" She faltered.

Kiba frowned. "I wouldn't what?" Atra fidgeted under his gaze, struggling with her words. Eventually, she stilled and her gaze fell, focusing on an empty space on the bed sheets. Kiba sighed. "Atra."

"Trust me." The words escaped her in a rush, and just like that Atra found she was having a hard time stopping. "You wouldn't trust me and you wouldn't respect me and you wouldn't want me here. In this pack, in Paradise, anywhere. And even worse than that is that I'd deserve it, _all _of it, and I just can't… For some reason I don't want that to happen. Not with anyone in this pack, but especially not…" She stopped suddenly, her eyes flicking up to meet his before turned away, finishing under her breath. "Not you."

For a long while, Kiba was speechless. His eyes had gone wide at the deep sense of regret, of guilt, in her words. It was as he'd expected; Atra felt that she deserved every bit of suffering that came her way, and the reason for it likely ran much deeper than her recent quarrel with her sister. Likely, it ran deep enough to the root of her reluctance towards Paradise, to whatever fed the cynicism with which she lived her life.

He tried to imagine what Atra possibly could have done that would make Kiba and the pack despise her, and found that he couldn't. Atra, while sharp at times, seemed to be incapable of malice. The only times she'd endangered anyone were honest mistakes, and quite honestly, the only person she seemed intent on hurting was herself. Coming to that realization didn't settle well with Kiba at all.

Atra shifted under his hand before she started speaking again, her voice shaking a little with uncertainty. "I mean… Not after you stood up for me, and all."

Realizing he'd just been staring at the girl, Kiba found his tongue again and said quietly, "I wouldn't think that."

There was a beat before Atra's features darkened, a scoff escaping her in a rush of air. "Sure you won't."

There was a lick of anger in Kiba's chest at how easily she brushed his words to the side. "Well then," He narrowed his eyes as he peered down at Atra before giving her a quiet, yet unmistakable command. "Why don't you try me."

And at those words, it seemed it was Atra's turn to be surprised. She tensed beneath his hand, her eyes wide. But before she managed to say another word, there was the sound of footsteps in the hall.

Reluctantly, Kiba turned towards the door and listened, though not without making a note to revisit the current conversation with Atra later. Atra had done the same beside him, and it wasn't long before both of them caught the scent of food seeping through the cracks of the door.

Room service. Of course. Leon had told them earlier that he'd arranged for their dinners, and considering how lazy humans were, was it really surprising that the wolves would be receiving their meal by such effortless means? Kiba sighed inwardly, not remembering another time he'd been annoyed at the occurrence of dinner.

The footsteps came to a stop outside the hotel room, a knock at the door following soon after. Kiba contemplated ignoring the knock until he'd received the answers he wanted from Atra, when suddenly a low gurgling sound caught his attention.

Atra flushed, her hands automatically rising to cover the sound's source at her stomach as she muttered an apology. Kiba stared at her for a moment before his lips curled into a warm smile. As stubborn as the girl was, she had her own moments of being quite _adorable_. "Hungry?"

She shot a glare at him as if the answer should be obvious, and Kiba chuckled before making a move to stand. Atra followed him as he walked to the door, standing just a bit behind him as he opened it to find a cart with two covered dishes sitting expectantly in the hallway. There was an identical cart beside it with four more plates, and it wasn't long before the door across from theirs opened to receive them.

Hige breathed in the scent of the upcoming meal as he stepped into the hallway before letting out a deep, satisfied sigh. "Smells great." He paused, spotting Kiba and Atra over the carts. He caught Atra's eye before smiling gently, "How you doing, kid?"

Atra blinked at being addressed before making an effort to smirk. "Who are you calling kid?"

Both Kiba and Hige started at the unexpectedly bold tone, though Hige recovered from his shock much quicker than Kiba did. He grinned, leaning against the door frame. "Isn't it obvious? With all that whimpering I heard coming from your room…"

"Hige." Kiba snapped admonishingly, only for Atra to smirk beside him.

"Whimpering? Really?" Atra said flippantly, a challenge sparking in her tired (and still puffy) eyes. "You managed to hear all that over your stomach growling, Porky?"

Hige gave a soft laugh, "Always with the fat jokes."

"Always easy to make them." Atra said, her smirk melting into a fond smile as she looked across the hallway. Kiba looked from her to Hige with a frown as Atra continued, "I'm fine. Thanks for asking."

Hige nodded before gesturing to the room behind him. "You two should eat with us. It's getting pretty lonely in there." He looked to Atra before adding as an afterthought, "The runt's up. He's been worrying about you too."

"I'd like that." Atra replied, glancing at Kiba afterwards as if to ask permission. He gave an imperceptible nod, and Atra beamed.

Hige watched the two of them, a mischievous glint in his eye. He looked at Atra, "Yeah, just have Kiba roll in the carts. I'll take care of ya'." He gave a playful wink, watching as Atra's brow wrinkled a little at the action before she gave a low laugh. Kiba stared.

"Could you, Kiba?" Atra asked, looking up at him carefully. Kiba met her gaze before taking a slow breath, nodding in surrender. The corners of her lips curled into another tired smile, and Kiba began to turn away when she suddenly stepped forward, pressing her body against his to give a quick nuzzle to the crook of his neck. Kiba stilled at the contact, his eyes wide as she whispered softly against his skin. "Thank you."

She was gone before he knew it, having pushed out of the doorway and around the carts to Hige's side. Kiba watched her go, dumbfounded, and only regained his composure when he noticed Hige watching him with the trace of a smirk on his lips. Atra joined him in the doorway, and after a quick glance, Hige began to lead her into the room, propping the door open for Kiba along the way.

Kiba watched as they settled into the room just beyond the door frame. After a few moments of just standing there, he shook his head and began rolling in the carts.

* * *

><p>"Tsume, I don't understand." Kuri called out to the wolf ahead of her, glancing below her every once in a while to make sure she leapt across the open spaces between the buildings when needed. "Who was that?"<p>

"Bounty hunter." Tsume said, his eyes focused on the hotel that they were rapidly approaching.

"He hunts wolves?" Kuri asked, the pitch of her words rising in surprise and panic.

"No, fairies. No shit he hunts wolves." Tsume said bitingly. "We've run into him a couple of times before. The fact that he's just some drunk-ass human doesn't mean he isn't dangerous. Pisses me off."

"Tsume—"

"Questions later. We need to get to the hotel before he does." Tsume barked back. Kuri blinked before obediently falling silent, keeping her eyes on his back as they bounded across the rooftops.

When they reached the last building that neighbored the hotel, Tsume came to a stop. Kuri looked at him curiously as she came to his side, beginning to prepare herself for the jump to the ground below when he used his arm to block her path. She looked at him with a frown, "What are you doing?"

"Can you figure out which one's ours?"

Kuri's looked at him in confusion before realizing that he was talking about the rooms. She looked at the walls of the hotel, walking a little to the left to get a better angle to observe them before scanning their balconies. Finally, her eyes caught a glimpse of a tail just beyond the glass doors. "There." She pointed. Tsume nodded in response, and she turned to him. "What are you going to do?"

"Taking a shortcut." Tsume said, suddenly moving to stand on the very edge of the roof. "Come on." He leapt.

Kuri watched as he landed precariously on the rails of the balcony closest to them before jumping to another. The rails shuddered beneath his weight, under the force of his jumps, and Kuri could just barely hear the shocked gasps of the humans inside. She took a few steps back, allowing her a running start before she followed.

Tsume landed squarely on their balcony ahead of her, glancing back to make sure she was approaching safely before kicking at the door to the room.

Before long, Hige opened the door, his expression betraying that he was more than a little rattled by Tsume's entrance. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Tsume ignored him, instead pushing past Hige to step into the room, looking around quickly at the wolves that were eating their dinners on the hotel floor. Catching sight of Kiba, he began to span the distance between him with long, urgent steps. Hige looked at him with a scowl, "Hey, I'm talking to you!"

Toboe frowned, sensing a sort of danger in Tsume's expression as he walked up to Kiba. "What's going on?"

The gray wolf walked up to Kiba, not even sparing a second glance at the dinners they'd been eating. "We have a problem."

Kiba looked at him, immediately understanding the seriousness of the situation. He moved to stand, concern in his eyes. "What is it?"

"The hunter's back." The ears of the wolves in the room perked up instantly, and Hige's irritation at Tsume's behavior gave way to solemnity. Tsume crossed his arms, a frown etched into his expression. "We were seen."

Atra looked at the wolves, repeating in confusion, "The hunter?"

Toboe looked at her with a nod, "A bounty hunter that goes after wolves. He's been chasing us down ever since we met."

"But why—"

"We don't have time to explain." Kiba said, cutting her off. "We need to leave this city before he gets on our trail." He turned to Tsume, his expression thoughtful, "And if she saw you, then he already is."

"She?" Atra echoed.

"The hunter had a dog with him." Atra looked up to see Kuri step into the room. The sister's looked at each other for a moment, both of their expressions hard. Kuri was the first to look away, still speaking to Atra even as she avoided her gaze. "He's using her to track us."

Kiba studied the two wolves, looking warily between the both of them before giving a nod. "That's right."

"So what are we waiting for, then?" Hige said suddenly, walking towards the group. "Shouldn't we be high tailing it out of here?"

Tsume nodded before gesturing upwards. "The rooftops are our best bet. That old man isn't going to be able to follow us that way, and he'll have an even harder time aiming from the ground."

"We'll leave the same way you just came, then. It should be the quickest way out." Kiba said.

"But wouldn't the humans notice?" Toboe asked with a frown. "I mean, we could hear them yelling from here. I wouldn't be surprised if someone was already sent up here to check on us."

Hige let out an exasperated groan, "We don't have _time_ to be worrying about what some humans think, Toboe. Just worry about the human with the gun!"

"I'm just saying!" Toboe protested, shooting a glare to Hige.

"Enough!" Tsume fixed the two wolves with his own glare before beginning to walk back to the balcony doors. "Instead of trying to rip each other's heads off, you should focus on getting the hell out of here." He slid open the door and stepped on the balcony.

There was a loud crack and the sound of the shattering of glass, sending all the wolves in the room to duck for cover. Tsume had immediately re-entered the room and was pressed flush against the wall, the remains of the glass door he'd just slid open scattered across the floor. He panted softly, attempting to catch his breath as his features twisted into a scowl. "Well, _fuck_. He's here."

At the foot of the hotel, a hunter lowered his gun, his eyes focused onto the third floor balcony. He frowned, glancing at his dog beside him. "Won't be able to get them from here, will we, girl?"

She looked up at Quent, and the man gave a dark smile. "Looks like we'll have to head in."

Quent began to walk towards the hotel entrance, only to see a young woman leave the building and immediately approach him. He looked at her disinterestedly, only slightly disgruntled when she blocked his path. "Just _what_ do you think you're doing? We have guests here! Are you insane?"

"Got a call about some dogs." He muttered gruffly, attempting to push her aside.

The woman slapped his hand away, her voice going shrill. Blue's ears flattened against her head at the sound. "We didn't make a call about the dogs! That was barely five minutes ago, how could you have—"

Quent looked to her seriously, leaning a bit closer. The woman stilled immediately, in fear or shock, neither of them knew. Quent especially didn't care. "But there _were_ dogs?"

She stared up at him, unable to form any response to his words. Quent gave a smug smirk before moving around her, walking through the entrance. The woman then came to her senses, realizing that she'd caught the distinct, telltale scent of whiskey on his breath. She turned, shrieking after him, "I'm calling the police!"

* * *

><p>"What now?" Toboe asked, a hint of panic seeping into his voice.<p>

"We need to get up to the roof a different way." Tsume said lowly, his eyes darting around the room as if the answer could be found on the walls.

"Stairs." Kiba said suddenly, rising to open the door. His paws fumbled on the handle, and he swore under his breath. At his second try, the door opened, and the wolves filed into the hallway.

"Which way is it?" Hige asked.

Kiba looked down the hallway. There was the telltale chime of the elevator reaching their floor, and as if that decided it, Kiba turned sharply in the other direction. "This way."

The pack followed him, hearing the sound of a human calling out behind them. "What the hell is going on here? Hey! Stop right there!"

Toboe glanced behind them, shooting the hotel employee a sheepish grin. "Sorry! Gotta' run!" Gratefully, the wolves spotted a clear sign indicating the stairwell towards the end of the hall and skidded to a stop. Before Kiba could fumble with the doorknob the second time around, Tsume pushed him to the side and opened it easily, ushering everyone in before closing it on the human that was following them.

But before any of them could relax, another sharp crack whistled through the air. A chunk of the wall besides Hige was blown away as a bullet embedded itself into the stone, and the wolves turned to the source of the sound to see the hunter climbing the stairs from the floor below the, his dog leading him at an even quicker pace.

Hige gave a loud groan before running with the rest of the pack. "Give me a break!" He looked back over his shoulder to the canine chasing after him. "The guy's like sixty, don't you think he's getting a little old for this?"

Blue gave a low growl before lunging towards them, just barely missing Tsume as he brought up the rear. The wolf let out a growl of his own before pushing up on the rest of his companions, urging them to run faster. "God damn it, Hige, _shut the fuck up and run_!"

Another gunshot echoed through the stairwell, and the wolves winced as the sound set another round of ringing in their ears. Finally, they reached the rooftop. Kiba opened the door hurriedly, attempting to close it before the dog slipped out with them, but to no avail.

Blue squeezed through the half open doorway and braced herself on rooftop, hackles raised. She sent the wolves scattering like roaches, all of them leaping back to put some distance between them, their own fur bristling in anticipation.

Tsume stared the bitch down, every nerve of him thrumming with the rush of being chased. He bared his fangs in a feral grin. "Six against one. Do you really want to work with those chances?"

Blue's growl faltered for a moment, her stance suddenly not quite as sure. Then just like that, her hesitance had passed, and she was growling all over again, like a band stretched so thin it was just waiting to snap.

Tsume glanced up at the doorway they'd just slipped through before his eyes settled on Blue's once more. "Is that human really worth it? Worth your life? _Ours_?"

Her eyes widened slightly at the question, and Kiba spoke from behind her. "Tsume." Footsteps were fast approaching the door. "We don't have time."

Tsume nodded before turning on his heel, looking over at Blue over his shoulder. "Stay with your human, _dog_." He ran to the edge of the roof before leaping to the next building, the others soon following.

Quent burst through the door as the last wolf, Kiba, left the rooftop, shooting after them wildly. The white wolf barely glanced back at them as the spray of bullets missed him by a wide berth. Blue watched for a moment, stunned by the nerve of them all before she began to bark after them, rushing towards the edge of the roof herself.

"Blue!"

She skid to a stop. She turned to see Quent looking at her, the gun gripped tightly in his hand. She could read the disappointment in his eyes, the resignation. "Let them go. We're on their trail now. It's not over yet."

He glared into the distance, the figures quickly disappearing into the shadows. He inhaled deeply through his nose, gritting his teeth before bracing himself against the brick of the roof, yelling after them, "You heard that? It's not over yet!" Blue watched him, noted the trembling of his hands as he reached into his coat pocket and took out his flask.

The hotel employees that had been chasing him opened the door to the roof and began yelling. There was the sound of sirens fast approaching.

Quent popped open the top of the flask, putting it to his lips and throwing his head back. It was empty. Blue looked at her master in all this chaos, watched as he gave her a dry smile. "You know what, girl? I could use a drink."

* * *

><p>It was only when the cityscape was a dark, indistinct form on the horizon that the wolves slowed to a stop. Toboe was the first to stumble, his legs giving out beneath him and causing him to fall into the snow. The wolves turned to look back at him in concern, and Kiba walked up to the pup, glancing back warily before giving a small nod, "We should be safe."<p>

Hige let out a sigh of relief, taking a seat. "Why do we always get chased out of cities? Why can't they just send us off with a fruit basket or something?"

"I don't get it." Atra said suddenly, the eyes of the pack turning to her as she spoke. "Who was he? What was that all about?"

"It's like we said. He's a human that's been hunting us for a while now." Hige said, looking at Atra. "He's always drunk off his ass so he can see through our disguises, and plus he has that chick with him, so that makes things even easier. Besides the soldiers, he's pretty much the only guy we really need to look out for. Well you know, _so far_."

Atra frowned, nodding as she took this information in. After a while, she recognized the feeling of being watched and looked up to see her sister giving her a hard stare some distance away. Their eyes met for a moment before Kuri averted her gaze. The other wolves pretended not to notice.

"We should rest." Kiba said.

Tsume nodded in agreement, "Taking turns to be on the lookout might be a good idea while we're at it."

Toboe looked up at him from his place on the snow, his eyes half-lidded. "You think he'll be back?"

"I think it would be a smart idea to be ready if he does." Tsume said, looking at the pup. Toboe frowned, worry in his eyes before he closed them once more. Tsume continued looking at the pup, his gaze softening just a fraction before looking back at Kiba. "I'll take the lookout for now."

He nodded, "Wake me when you're ready to switch."

As Kiba walked to find a place to settle in the snow, Hige gave a loud sigh. "From a hotel room to this." He laid his head over his paws, closing his eyes as he allowed himself to fall asleep.

Kuri followed suit, ignoring Atra's eyes on her as she increased the distance between them, lying in the snow with her back to her sister. Atra frowned, staring at her as the other wolves began to drop off to sleep. Realizing that her mind was far too restless to allow her to fall asleep any time soon, she stood and began to walk towards Kuri.

"Stop."

Atra blinked at the command, turning to Tsume questioningly. The wolf was glaring at her not too far away, his eyes narrowing as they met hers. Sensing the threat, the challenge in the way he was regarding her, Atra looked down, shrinking a little under his gaze.

"You…" Tsume began slowly, his voice edged in quiet fury as he walked towards her, "Are the worst kind of wolf. You know that?"

Atra flinched, but didn't answer, taking a slow step back. Tsume growled at her silence, "And I'm not even talking about what happened with your pack." Atra looked up at that and Tsume bared his teeth in a mocking grin, "Oh yeah. She told me. What sickens me is the fact that even after taking the shit for _that_, you're still even thinking of leaving. You _want _to be a coward. To desert the only part of your pack that you have left—"

Atra hissed, "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh I know plenty." Tsume barked back, a beat passing as he remembered himself and lowered his voice once more. "The only thing that disgusts me more than you is the fact that your sister loves you enough to give you another chance. Just give her time. And take that time to figure your own issues out while you're at it, because I'm damn tired of this pack having to deal with them."

Tsume turned on his tail and walked away from the female, not seeing her as she closed her eyes and breathed deeply to calm her nerves. When the roar in her ears had dulled to a hum, Atra looked at Tsume's form and said quietly, "Tsume, about me leaving—"

"It's not any of my business to share that with the rest of the pack. Honestly, I could care less." He came to a stop, settling into a state of repose on the snow beside Toboe. "But I'm not going to stop Kuri from tearing you a new one if she feels like it."

Atra nodded, looking at him silently. Finally, she spoke again. "I don't deserve her."

There was a pause before Tsume looked at her over his shoulder. "No. You don't."

Atra nodded before walking back towards her original location, lying down once again just to stare at the back of her sister across the way. After a while, she closed her eyes. It would be a miracle if she managed to get any sleep tonight.


	13. Chapter 13

**Light Embracing Darkness: Chapter Thirteen**

_The Countess D_

* * *

><p>The next few weeks of travel were anything but easy. Beyond the physical aches and pains the wolves had to go through, there was an undeniable tension within the pack. Atra and Kuri were distant from the other, and while neither <em>avoided<em> interacting with the other, there was a new, false casualness in the way their manner when they did. The males in the pack would be daft to not notice the rift that had come between the two sisters; even more so to miss the odd way Tsume and Atra regarded each other during the same time period. While the two had been far from close friends, there was a new hostility in the way Tsume looked at Atra, and a new wariness in Atra's behavior around the wolf in question.

It was so baffling and subtle that the first time Kiba noticed it, he'd thought he might be imagining things. It took Hige calling out the wolf on his behavior one night after the two girls had fallen asleep for Kiba to realize that the change was very real. Tsume had snorted at the inquiry, his nose lifting just a bit higher in the air. "I'm treating the bitch the same way I've always treated her."

Toboe had glanced at Atra to check that she was truly asleep and hadn't heard him before turning back to Tsume. "You could be a little nicer to her. I mean, its weird being with everyone like this. We're all supposed to be friends, aren't we?"

"He's right." Kiba cut in, looking to Tsume. "The pack's not going to last very long if there are all these problems between us."

"Well then I guess we just have to move _faster_, now don't we?" Tsume hissed back.

They decided not to intervene after that.

Eventually the pack began to reassume a semblance of normalcy. Kuri and Atra regained some of their prior closeness, eventually reaching the point where Kuri pulled Atra to the rear of the pack just as she used to. Atra had followed reluctantly, though not without a flicker of hope surfacing from the back of her mind.

After a few moments of simply walking in silence, Kuri spoke up. "I know that you didn't know what was going to happen to the pack that day, and that you wouldn't have left us if you did."

Atra glanced at her, but Kuri paid her no mind, far too focused on her words and how to put them instead. "And I know it doesn't make sense to keep hoping that our old pack members are still alive, especially if there's so much evidence that they're not. So I forgive you for that."

A sense of relief washed over Atra, but before she could get too content, Kuri added. "But I'm still not ready to forgive you for even thinking of leaving me anyway." At that sent a sharp look Atra's way. "I thought you were better than that. I _deserve _better than that. And I'm still angry."

Atra looked at her, feeling an all too familiar sense of guilt creeping up on her before quashing it down. She nodded, "I know… I understand." She took a deep breath before ending quietly, "I'm sorry." Kuri regarded her a bit icily before responding with a small nod. And that was the end of that.

So the pack relaxed once more. Atra could still sense some degree of disapproval from Tsume, but even that seemed to lessen once Kuri began to warm up to her in front of the pack. Sensing that the worst was over, the only difficulty they had to face was getting used to the warming weather and trekking across dirt instead of snow. And while they'd certainly complained enough about the cold, they soon found that walking on rocky terrain and navigating their way through lush forests wasn't much better.

Toboe tripped over a root that jutted out in an arc on the forest floor, a loud yelp escaping him as he stumbled. The wolves glanced back at him in mild concern. Kuri smiled gently, "Should you really be bringing up the rear? You've been falling behind more than you should be."

The pup flushed, righting himself as he rubbed the back of his head. He sent a baleful glance at the root that had nearly sent him face planting into the forest floor before replying. "It's not like I can't _handle_ it."

"Are you sure? Atra and I could take the back of the pack if you want us to." Kuri asked, the tone of her voice clearly indicating that this would be the last time she'd give him the chance. Toboe hesitated, his lips taking on an almost insulted pout as he considered the option.

"Come on, runt!" Hige called from the front, heaving a sigh of irritation. "Just get a move on or we'll leave you behind." He turned to follow Kiba and Tsume as they turned, pushing further on into the forest. Kuri looked at them before giving Toboe a pointed look, her brow smugly arched.

Toboe frowned at her before giving a sigh of his own, jogging ahead of the sisters. "I'm going, I'm going."

Kuri chuckled as he ran past her and took the time to watch as he caught up to Hige. Atra glanced at her before moving on, Kuri following soon after.

Atra looked around aimlessly, her eyes falling only on the thick foliage of the forest and her nose only picking up the faint scents of animals that had long since fled the area. Even then, the forest was a far cry from the icy wasteland they'd left behind.

But why they'd come _here_ was something none of the pack seemed to know. After getting chased out of the last city by the bounty hunter, the wolves had simply charged ahead through the snow and followed the distant railroad tracks for much of the journey. Once the snow ended and gave way to soil, however, Kiba lead them in a completely different direction seemingly for no apparent reason. The pack assumed it was to avoid the possibility of meeting the hunter along the tracks, not to mention to avoid the cities that lay along the very same path, so they hadn't protested. But _now_…

"You want to give us a clue, here?" Tsume asked as the sisters closed the distance between them and the rest of the pack. Atra's ears perked up at the sound of her questions, and very likely the questions of the rest of them, being voiced by the usually gruff wolf.

Kiba's reply was disinterested at best. "Sure."

"Where exactly are we headed?"

"To _Paradise_."

Another audience might have thought that Kiba was trying to be funny. However, the pack knew the white wolf well enough to acknowledge the possibility that he was being completely serious.

There was a beat before Tsume pressed on, "And just what in the hell is guiding you there?"

"I'm going on instinct."

The other wolves behind Kiba slowed to a stop, and the wolves were silent before Hige sighed, "Here we go again." He raised a hand, scratching at the back of his head. "I just wish it _felt_ like we were getting closer. Not that I'm complaining or anything."

"But how can you get closer to Paradise?" The wolves looked at Kuri, and she shrunk away slightly at the sudden attention before continuing, "I mean, it's either you get there or you don't, right?"

Atra shook her head, answering lowly. "It doesn't work like that, Kuri."

Kiba looked at her, a hint of surprise in his eyes. He began to speak, his words barely beginning to leave his lips before a sharp whistling pierced through the air. The wolves looked skyward, their eyes wide and ears upright.

"That noise." Tsume murmured thoughtfully.

"It's an airship." Hige concluded, "It must be one of the nobles."

Kuri looked at him, fear tinting her expression. "The nobles?"

Toboe made a sound of disgust, his ears flattened against his skull. "I hate that sound."

They continued looking towards the clouds, watching as a blot of darkness, barely visible, appeared against the clouds. Moments later, another shape appeared against the sky, far larger than the airship that they'd initially observed. They watched, almost captivated, as beams of red light stretched across the sky, twisting and turning in futile attempts to hit the airship that weaved between the lights in a hypnotic display.

Atra stared, unable to take her eyes off of the battle. Then suddenly her heart began to tighten in her chest, aching in a strangely pleasant, almost anticipatory way as her breath caught in her throat. Pushing the strange sensations to the back of her mind, she tried to focus on the sky once more.

Beside her, Kuri seemed like she hadn't been affected by the scene as Atra had. Her breath was even, and her expression showed nothing but confusion at the ships. "They're _fighting_."

There was a blast that shook the ground the wolves were standing on, and Toboe let out a cry, clutching at the wolf nearest to him for support. Hige gripped him on reflex, but didn't take his eyes off the battle. "Man, they're really going at it."

Kuri nodded, "If they keep it up, they're going to do some serious damage to the forest."

"The question is: what the hell are they fighting about in the first place?" Hige said with a frown.

As if replying to his question, Kiba spoke, his words almost awed. "She's there." He started to walk forward towards the battle, his expression far more entranced by the two airships than any of the others.

Tsume started at his movement. "Hold it! It has nothing to do with us, stay out of it!"

"I can feel it." Kiba replied, still walking.

"Feel what?!" Hige exclaimed. In the skies above them, another ray of light zigzagged its way across the clouds.

"I'm not sure. But it's so familiar." Kiba admitted, his brow furrowing deeply as he looked at the airship that twisted out of its way. He turned to look back at them, every bit of his stance and voice suddenly agitated. "Come on, don't you guys feel anything at all?" He broke out into a run ahead of them.

Tsume shouted out towards the wolf before chasing after him, and ahead of the females, Toboe turned to look between them and Hige. "Can you?"

Kuri shook her head, at a loss of what to say to either wolf or what to do at all. Atra didn't answer, her eyes focused on Kiba and Tsume as the distance between them began to stretch further. Wordlessly, she began to run after them. She'd become so lost in her thoughts that she barely registered the fact that the others had followed.

Tsume was calling out to Kiba in front of her, and Toboe's voice soon followed after. All Atra could think about was how the ache in her chest was growing stronger, how a strange sensation was starting to flutter in the pit of her stomach. Then, suddenly, even those thoughts became irrelevant as a scent passed through the forest, the breeze carrying it to them almost teasingly.

Atra nearly tripped.

Hige spoke behind her, "That scent…"

They looked up towards the sky once more. There was no denying the figure that was spiraling to the ground and the scent that it carried. Atra stared at it, her entire being suddenly going numb. The entire pack knew: it was her, the Flower Maiden.

* * *

><p>The ache was getting worse. Atra pressed her forehead against the face of the cliff and closed her eyes, taking deep, even gulps of air as she maintained her grip on the rocks. Every whiff of whatever was waiting for them on the mountaintop sent another flutter into her belly, another chill down her spine, all of which were presenting unnecessary distractions. Obviously, whatever they were heading towards didn't have a scent conducive to successfully scaling a mountainside.<p>

Nearby, Hige leaned his head back and sniffed. "The scent is faint. But it's up there."

Kiba was barely listening, choosing instead to climb at a quicker pace. Kuri looked at him and attempted to follow suit, beginning to climb past Tsume before a rock slipped beneath her weight. She let out a cry, and Tsume immediately grabbed her, pulling her to his side on the flat ledge he was standing on and steadying her. Kuri looked down, watching the rock that had slipped out of the cliff formation fall to the forest below and gulped. "Thanks."

Tsume nodded in reply before turning up towards Kiba, frowning deeply. "Why in the hell are you so worked up?"

"Aw man." Hige sighed suddenly. "It's got the stink of a noble mixed in there too."

"A noble?" Tsume looked at him before looking away thoughtfully. The next time he looked back towards Kiba, a scowl had stretched across his face.

"Hey Kiba!" Toboe called out as he gained distance on the white wolf. Kiba turned to him, coming to a stop on a nearby ledge. Toboe ducked his head a little bashfully as he said, "Uhm, I got this fluttery feeling in my chest. Is that what you meant?"

He nodded. "Let's go."

Atra frowned, but continued to climb, her pulse quickening as they began to reach the top of the cliff. The other wolves around her had begun to squirm, and Atra wondered if they had begun feeling the effects of what was waiting for them as Toboe did. But while they easily portrayed some semblance of discomfort at what this scent, this _thing_ was making them feel, Kiba was just as stoic as before, if not even more so. Glancing over at him as they climbed the cliff, Atra saw no expression other than blind determination and focus.

Suddenly, she wasn't sure which bothered her more: the fact that the stoic Kiba seemed even less of a real person in response to this _thing_, or the fact that the sensations seemed to be increasing tenfold as they neared their destination.

Hige helped her up over the edge of her cliff, watching her steady herself as she looked back down the mountainside. He shook his head, muttering quietly, "Damn Kiba. You'd think there'd be an easier way to do this… Whatever this is." Atra didn't reply, instead turning to look at the wolves that had already started walking ahead of them. He frowned, ducking a little to examine her more closely. "Hey, are you all right? You look kind of… out of breath."

"Fine." Atra said automatically, beginning to walk. Hige took his place beside her, looking her skeptically out of the corner of his eye. Atra looked back at him and shook her head, "Anyone would be out of breath after climbing _that_, Hige."

"If you say so."

They jogged to catch up with the others, Hige moving more towards the front of the pack as Atra slowed down to match her pace with Kuri's. The forest on the mountaintop was more lush, more wild than the one they'd left behind, its floor all gnarled roots and stray vines. Yet despite the maze that it should have been, Kiba seemed to know exactly where he was going and was silent all the way.

Eventually, it became painfully obvious that they were nearly there.

Toboe let out an almost shuddered breath, his cheeks a shade brighter than the shirt his human counterpart wore. "I don't know why, but my heart is pounding, and I feel all warm and tingly inside."

Kuri nodded beside Atra, her hand pressed over her heart. "It's like it's telling us that something amazing is going to happen. It almost hurts."

Hige hummed in content, a lazy smile on his face. "This is that cool feeling you get before pouncing on a pretty girl."

Atra let out a bark of a laugh, the sharpness of the sound betraying some of her discomfort. "You're a pig."

He grinned in response, "I'm a _wolf_."

Atra rolled her eyes and shook her head in response.

"All right, Miss Superiority. What would you call it?"

Atra paused, staring at him before looking away with a thoughtful frown and a blush across her cheeks. Hige's grin widened in triumph. "That's what I thought."

Tsume looked back at them, his mouth set into his trademark frown. "Don't let your guard down." He warned, "…But there's a shiver up my spine too."

They continued walking until the sound of rushing water reached their ears. Before long, the gnarled roots and trees gave way to open air, soft grass and small flowers. They stepped further out of the forest to see a meadow stretched out before them with a lake in the center. Water spilled from a rocky ledge above them, the sound deafening but not at all unpleasant. It was the most beautiful scene any of them had seen in a long time.

They scanned the clearing before them in shock, until finally their gazes came to a stop on the figure posed on a broken pillar within the lake.

She was young, and she was certainly beautiful. But more than that, there was an air about her, a quality that made her unmistakably inhuman.

She lifted her head and turned to them, sensing their presence, and Atra couldn't help but let out a gasp when those crimson eyes looked not at them, but straight through them. This young, beautiful, mythical maiden… was blind.

Hige, Toboe, and Kuri had a sharp intake of breath simultaneously, and Hige breathed out almost immediately afterwards, "It's her. It's really her."

Toboe's hands rose to his chest, his blush deepening. "My heart just skipped a beat."

"Who is that?" Tsume spoke, glancing at Kuri when he realized she'd said the same words in unison. The sound of footsteps called his attention to the front once more, and the wolves started to see Kiba walking towards the girl in the lake. Tsume frowned, cautious. "Hold on!"

They watched as he walked across the meadow, completely ignoring Tsume's warning. The maiden, unseeing as her eyes were, seemed to watch him as he approached, her smile never fading as she waited for him. Kiba's paws disturbed the water as he stepped into the lake, his gaze on her softer than any of them had ever seen. He smiled. "Cheza."

Atra's breath escaped her, the tenderness with which the wolf had said the name suddenly making her chest clench even tighter. The other wolves didn't seem to notice, and Atra turned away, missing the suspicious look Kuri sent her way.

Cheza's eyes widened slightly at the sound of her name. The surprise soon melted away to the same gentleness he'd greeted her with, and she slowly leaned down to run her fingers through his fur. Before long she'd knelt into the water, embracing the wolf fondly, whispering softly against him, "We meet at last."

Toboe let out a sigh, "I want to be held like that."

"Can that really be?" Tsume said, still frowning. The display, while others may have considered it to be touching, did nothing but unsettle him further.

"Yeah. That's her. That's the Flower Maiden." Hige assured them, his eyes bright.

"The Flower Maiden?" Kuri said quietly, looking back at the couple below. They had begun to pull away from each other. Kiba seemed to say something to the girl, and Cheza looked up at them and waved. "Who is she?"

"The beacon to Paradise." Atra said quietly. She was watching Kiba and Cheza with a blank expression on her face, seeming to mull over something before she turned to Kuri. "A lunar flower that was given the body of a girl."

Kuri gaped at her, "A lunar flower?"

"Looks like the lovebirds are on the move." Hige said suddenly. Atra glanced up at him before looking towards the pair at the lakeside. They were walking back up the slope towards the forest a little ways away from them. She frowned thoughtfully. It seemed that the strange effects Cheza's presence had had on the wolves was long gone, since her eyes had met theirs. So why, Atra wondered, was there still an ache in her chest?

"Guess we better follow." Tsume said, his eyes honing in on the linked hands between them. He crossed his arms and frowned. Apparently he didn't particularly like the idea of Kiba being won over so easily.

They started to walk, keeping a distance from the pair. Toboe looked over his shoulder to Atra as they walked, "So she's a flower and a maiden? That's sort of weird."

Hige nodded, "Well, the way I heard it, some nobles with too much time on their hands made her from a lunar flower in a lab somewhere."

"They made a human from a flower? Give me a break, you really believe all that?" Tsume said skeptically.

"It's true." Atra said, flushing a little at the looks the other wolves gave her. "I heard it once. And in all of the stories about Paradise, wolves were lead to it by the lunar flowers. It makes sense for humans to think that that would be easier if…"

"If the flower was human." Tsume finished for her, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the she-wolf. He looked to Kuri, seeing to his relief that she seemed just as confused about the day's proceedings as he was. "Have _you_ heard these stories?"

Kuri blinked in surprise at being addressed before her expression changed to a thoughtful one. "Well… no."

"But Atra has?" Toboe turned to look at her, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"Atra…" Kuri paused, looking over at her sister. "Has had access to more sources, I guess. Our pack never really talked about that kind of stuff. It was kind of taboo." Atra snorted at that. Kuri shot her a glare, "We were more concerned with getting by." She shrugged, "In any case, I'm not really sure what to think about this."

Tsume looked at Kuri before giving an imperceptible nod. If Kuri didn't know any better, she would have called it approving. He then turned to Atra, his gaze critical. "And you believe in that crap?" He watched as Atra's gaze hardened, and it was clear that she had no intent to answer his question. It was equally clear that Tsume wouldn't need her to.

He scowled, turning away in disgust. "And there goes the last amount of respect I had for you."

Atra drawled, "I'm just surprised you had any left. You certainly haven't been acting like it." Tsume growled lowly in his chest and glowered at her.

Hige gave a nervous chuckle, butting in before the two wolves had a chance to start bickering. "In any case, come on, Tsume. Cheza's standing right there, isn't she?"

"Yeah." Toboe said, his voice quavering a little in anxiety before he looked back towards Cheza. He smiled dreamily, taking in a deep breath. "And she smells nice, too. Like a flower."

Tsume held Atra's gaze for another moment before turning away, his expression relaxing to a calmer state of irritation. "Smell or no smell, I don't trust any of this."

"Even though your heart skipped a beat too?" Toboe replied.

"Well I, for one, believe it." Hige declared. Tsume looked at him in surprise, watching as the wolf continued boldly. "I mean, just think about it. As crazy as it seemed at the time, Kiba lead us straight to this place by instinct or whatever you want to call it, right? Even if it is some big coincidence, at least it finally feels like we're one step closer."

"It sure does." Toboe agreed. Tsume kept his eyes forward, his expression blank.

Hige shrugged, "Well, either way you look at it, she's really not my type at all. It's such a bummer."

Kuri let out a laugh, the sound attracting the glances of the maiden and wolf ahead of them and dispelling most of the tension the pack was suffering from. "You keep talking as if you'd stand a chance."

"Ouch." Hige said with his own laugh, moving a bit to push at Kuri's side. She pushed back just as playfully, sending him staggering across the path. Just a few yards away, there was a rustle in the brush, like an animal shuffling across the forest floor.

Atra frowned, her ears pivoting to pinpoint the location of the sound more accurately. But before she could even get close, Hige and Kuri repeated their playful routine and Hige fell against the bushes once more.

Tsume growled at their antics, barking at Hige, "Knock it off!"

"I was just playing around." Hige shrugged. He watched as Tsume's scowl only seemed to deepen further before he turned his reproving stare to Kuri. She shrugged, smiling sheepishly before resuming to walk as she had before, a few steps behind Tsume. Slowly, Hige grinned. "Oh I get it."

The corner of Tsume's mouth twitched, and Hige's grin grew even wider.

Yeah. He got it.


End file.
